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ELEMENTS 



OF 



SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY; 



BEING AN 



EXPOSITION OF INTERIOR PRINCIPLES. 



Jtftfften) 6lj $piti&$ of fye Sixty Sfrcie. 

R. P. AMBLER, MEDIUM. 



SPRINGFIELD. MASS. 
PUBLISHED BY R. P. AMBLER 

to. Ill ISilson, printer. 




ELEMENTS 



OP 



SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY; 



BEING AN 



EXPOSITION OF INTERIOR PRINCIPLES, 



WnVtm hj ipirits nf tju iiitjj €in\t 



R. P. 'AMBLER, MEDIUM. 



SPKINGFIELD, MASS. 
PUBLISHED BY R. P. AMBLER 

1852. 






Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1852, 

ByR. p. ambler, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



GEO. W . WILSON, PRINTER, 

OFFICE CORNER MAIN AND STATE STREETS, 

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 



ADDRESS TO THE READER 



The spirits of the Sixth Circle have written the fol- 
lowing pages through the medium of an individual whom 
they have selected to act as their agent in the presenta- 
tion ot important truths to the world, This volume is 
designed as a preparatory work that will properly pre- 
cede the larger and more important books which will be 
published as they are needed in the wisdom of spirits. 
It will be understood that this work has been written 
without the necessity of thought on the part of the medi- 
um, and with the use of his hand independent of the 
action of his own will. The contents are commended 
to the reason and intuition of the reader, these consti- 
tuting the only real standard by which truth is to be 
judged. If in the following pages a light should be 
found which will illuminate the dark labyrinths of 
human ignorance, the writers will desire that this may 
be the means of awakening the elements of a new life 
in the bosom of the immortal being. 

Spirits of the Sixth Circle. 



ELEMENTS 



OF 



SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 



THE SPIEITUAL ERA. 

The shadows of the Past are rapidly passing away. A new era 
is dawning upon the earth. Darkness is rolling from the bright- 
ening heavens, and the moan of oppressed and weeping humanity 
is lost in the anthem of approaching day. Spirits who dwell in 
the home of light, rejoice that the sweetness of heavenly love is 
mingling with the selfish and corrupt desires of man, and that 
the mourning of the bereaved heart is changed to the tranquil 
peace which pervades its illuminated depths. It is the joy of the 
celestial world that the inhabitants of the earth have passed the 
gloomy vale of their darksome journey, and have begun to mount 
the hill-top of a nobler life, from which they may view the glories 
of the distant Future. The spiritual era of the world has now 
commenced. Man has been blessed as he was never blessed 
before. Light from the deep blue heaven has gleamed upon his 
path, and voices from the silence of the upper world have breath- 
ed their music to the human soul. Thus has the dawn of a radi- 
ant day appeared ; and while the slumbering race still dwell in 
gloom — while the spirit is suppressed and buried in its fading 
form, the gleamings of the day are seen by the faithful watcher, 
who reads his cheering promise in the sky. 

It will be seen by the critical reader of human history, that the 
race of man. has been forever subject to the great principle of pro- 
gressive development. The morning which first broke upon the 
body of humanity, disclosed only the first feeble symptoms of 



6 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

indwelling life. Man was at this period but little more exalted 
in his nature than the perishing brute ; he was undeveloped as to 
all the holy and godlike faculties of his being, and was placed by 
his own native and essential imperfection upon the most inferior 
plane of human development. From this starting point, the spirit 
which was born within the structure of man, has been undergoing 
an unceasing process of unfolding and refinement, by which it 
has been introduced into the ascending circles of love and wis- 
dom which rise towards the mansions of the blest. Progress has 
been the law to which the world has been ever subject. The ear- 
ly march of improvement on which it entered, was the commence- 
ment of an endless and all-radiant pathway ; the moving power 
by which its onward course was begun, has never been with- 
drawn; and through the circling ages of the future shall be 
quickened the advancing footsteps of Humanity in its progress to 
a higher destiny. 

Spirits see that the past history of the human race, is filled with 
the records of wrong and crime. They see that the brightness of 
the unfolded soul was not impressed upon the flowing tide of time. 
They see that the purity which dwells in their own heavenly 
abode, had no reflection in the undeveloped and benighted mind. 
They see that the darkness which broods over the chambers of 
the tomb had gathered around the fainting hearts of men, and 
that the shroud which robes the sleeping dead was made the 
emblem of eternal slumber. They see that humanity had no true 
source of hope, no fountain of uncorrupted joy, and no feeling of 
pure and undying pleasure. Gazing thus on the records of human 
wrong and error, the spirits have mourned that the blissful state 
which is reserved in the coming ages, should be delayed in its 
heavenly brightness ; yet have they rejoiced that the world has 
been ever advancing to higher stages of spiritual refinement, and 
has been always moved with a mighty and irresistible impulse 
towards the exalted end of its progress. It has been observed by 
the spirits that humanity, in the course of its advancement, has 
passed through several different degrees of progression, which 
may be properly represented by the term eras ; that each era has 
been the corresponding type of the general mind, and that the 
peculiarities by which all are distinguished, have manifested the 



THE SPIRITUAL ERA. 7 

precise stage of interior development to which mankind had 
arrived. In the first and early gleamings of the opening soul, 
man entered npon an era which was distinguished by a blind 
devotion to the objects that exist in the realms of sense. The 
race had attained to no higher conception of the dignity of the 
human being, than that which is involved in the thought that the 
external frame is the true image of God, and that surrounding 
forms of material substance constitute the wide expanse of Crea- 
tion. This era was one of the grossest and darkest materialism. 
It was an era when the vapors of the shadowed earth arose to 
banish all light from Heaven — when the gloom which was 
breeded in the chaos of matter, still lingered around the souls of 
the earthly, and when the beauty which is flowing through the 
home of the angels, could have no place in the dismal abodes of 
men. But the rolling stream of improvement moved on, and a 
new era was ushered upon the world — an era in which the 
thoughts of a higher life began to manifest their early birth. This 
was an age when the aspirations of the soul rose up in the purity 
and majesty of their nature, and gleamed upon the desert wastes 
of the benighted world. It was an era distinguished by the thirst- 
ings of the immortal nature — by the desire for truth and purity 
and wisdom — by the gladdening welcome of the heavenly mes- 
sage which brought peace and good will to men. This in brief 
was the Christian era — an age in which the sublime principles 
that were taught by Jesus and the apostles, began to establish 
their home in the human heart — in which an affection was man- 
ifested for those beautiful truths that were revealed to a world in 
darkness, and in which some evidence was presented, amid the 
cloudy atmosphere of conflicting creeds, of a dim but comforting 
belief in the joys of an immortal existence. This era was the 
great exponent of the rapid progress which the world had made 
in previous ages, and it also represented the preparatory process 
which was designed to fit the whole mass of humanity for the 
introduction of a still higher and more heavenly reality. 

Spirits have seen that the progress of mankind has brought it 
in the present age to a new and still more important period, 
which may be designated as the spiritual era. They have seen that 
the blessings which have been conferred on the world in all pre- 



8 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

vious ages, have been concentrated and poured in one beautiful 
stream upon the heaving breast of earth. They have seen that a 
period has now arrived at which humanity is surrounded by 
nobler influences, and in which a more sublime destiny is opened 
to the earthly view. They have seen that the interior depths of 
the human heart are evolving the treasures which have been 
buried there during the long centuries of the past, and which 
have been the reposited wealth of the immortal soul. To the vis- 
ion which they have delighted to exercise upon the advancing 
race, it appears that man has now entered into a new apartment 
among the mansions of the Father — that the gladness which fills 
the deepest heart of angels, is beginning to be known in some 
small degree by the inhabitants of the lower sphere, and that the 
realities which cluster around the abode of the immortals, are 
shedding their unfading* luster upon the earth-bound spirit. A 
vision of beauty is thus revealed to the perceptions of spirits. 
The gloom which has caused even the blest to sigh, is being rap- 
idly dispersed by the breaking light ; and as humanity rises from 
its degrading bondage — as it throws off the chains which have 
bound its energies — ■- as it looks upward in its proud dignity to 
the bending heavens and feels the thrilling presence of the angel- 
ic choir, the deadening darkness is cast from its expanding bosom 
and an anthem of joy goes up from the inward life. Spirits have 
seen that this new era is a period in which the world shall be illu- 
minated with spiritual truth — in which the breathings of the 
spirit shall be the sweet fragrance of its blooming flower — in 
which the light of higher Spheres shall be reflected on the wide 
surface of the human world, and the song which the redeemed 
may chant in the morning of the celestial life, shall be sung on 
the illumined and regenerated earth. 

The era of spiritual truth has now arrived. A new blessing, 
a nobler faith, and a more expanded hope, are waiting for the 
reception which they invite. The thrilling music of the redemp- 
tion is heard in the distance of the coming era, which shall com- 
plete the sanctifieation of the race. Bright and holy is the dawn 
which approaches. Let the world hail its coming as the harben- 
ger of a new-bom life and the beaming of the reflecting skies. 



TENDENCY OF MATERIALISM, 

Spirits have looked with dismay on the dense and stifling 
atmosphere of the lower world. They have seen that the earth 
has "been clouded with an emanation which has flowed from the 
£ro8s and undeveloped minds of the people. They see that 
Materialism has been the prevailing faith of the mass through 
all the darkened ages of the Past, and that superstitions of the 
most degrading character have been fostered in the foul bosom of 
the human race. They have beheld the vision which such scenes 
have presented with the regret which sympathizing angels ever 
feel for the unfortunate and depressed ; and in the love which 
flows amid the homes of wretchedness and suffering, have they 
spoken to the hearts which are buried in the gloom of earthly 
corruption. SjDirits have seen what the blinded world do not see, 
because they are elevated above the plane of sensuous existence, 
and can perceive the deep and interior reality. Thus it is beheld 
as a lamentable truth that the world has been ever, in all previous 
eras, darkly and grossly material — that it has lived and flourished 
amid the fading dreams of sense and with all the surrounding 
influences of degrading passion. 

So blinded and darkened have been the perceptions of the world, 
that it has not seen the condition in which it has always existed. 
Having no view of the higher plane of spiritual being — being 
unconscious of the superior relations which throng the habitation 
of angels, and realizing no part of that blissful presence which 
is furnished by the breathings of celestial life, the race has moved 
on in the beaten but thorny pathway in which the earth-children 
have ever traveled. The truth has been seen and lamented that 
the senses have been the ruling standard of thought and action — 
that the material nature has been cultivated to the neglect of the 
internal powers, and that the ends and objects of the earthly 
world have been sought with the undivided and concentrated 
desire of the human heart. So the life of man has been supposed 
2 



10 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

to consist in the beating of the heart, the throbbing of the pnlse, and 
the heaving of the lnngs. It has been imagined that this is to be 
determined by the measurement of earthly time, and by the lapse 
of days, and months, and years ; it has been thought that life can 
be properly enjoyed only by the possession of the means through 
which the luxuries of the world are to be secured, and that the 
true enjoyment of the great blessing of existence is to be 
possessed only by the attainment of those earthly and material 
agencies by which the senses are pandered and satiated in their 
irrational cravings. Thus has the world been degraded by a 
false and unnatural appetite for the things of earth ; and thus has 
it been darkened with the gloom which must ever rest upon the 
fading forms of the material world. 

The spirits desire to show the real tendency of the materialism 
which has extensively prevailed, and illustrate the false and 
unnatural position in which the whole race have been placed, 
through a devotion to the external appearance without regard to 
the internal reality. The bright and deathless dream of the 
spirits has been the elevation and improvement of their earthly 
kindred ; and with all the energies and aspirations of their 
immortal nature, they have labored and will continue to labor for 
the accomplishment of this result. It is perceived that the mate- 
rialism of the world is the great obstacle to be overcome in the 
work which is here proposed. Hence the spirits wish to reveal 
the true nature and tendency of the materialistic faith, as these are 
beheld from the exalted position which they naturally and essen- 
tially occupy. 

The materialistic faith has been the governing faith of the world 
during the whole period of the past history which the finger of 
Time has written. It has been the faith by which the noblest and 
most exalted powers of the human spirit have been crushed and 
degraded. It has been the faith by which the groping children 
of men have been lost in a wilderness of error. It has been a 
faith in which there is no light, no beauty, no attraction, but 
whose power consists alone in arbitrary authority, and whose 
mission is to blind and degrade the struggling soul. Therefore 
have the spirits seen that such a faith is only a gloomy veil which 
has prevented the exercise of the interior vision; that it is a 



TENDENCY OF MATERIALISM. 11 

burden, oppressive and wearying, which man has taken upon 
himself to bear; that it is a source of all the debasing and 
unworthy views of God, and man, and human destiny, which have 
been cherished in the bosom of the Church. It is because man 
has taken the most material view of his own nature, that he has 
indulged the erroneous supposition that the human being is totally 
depraved ; it is because he has been buried in the darkness of 
sense, that he has supposed the Deity to be a being who is moved 
by gross and malignant passion ; it is because he has been blinded 
by the darkness of his earthly nature, that he has been unable to 
perceive the glorious and sublime end of human progress which 
gleams forth from the unfolding Future. So long as sense reigns ~ 
over spirit — so long as matter has a predominance over the 
indwelling soul — so long as the transient forms of earth are 
worshiped as the God of Nature, so long will Superstition rear 
her temples, and Ignorance triumph over the truth of Heaven. 
In all the past history of the world, it has been Materialism which 
has blinded, degraded, and buried the human soul ; and in the 
ages which are now flowing through the depths of time, it is this 
which has overshadowed and darkened the holy sanctuary of 
man. 

Spirits who have watched the progress of the race, and who 
have mourned over the wretchedness and suffering of man, have 
seen the blindness which has been manifested in the use of all 
the powers which relate to the spiritual nature. It has been 
lamented that the hypocrite has visited the sanctuary of worship 
— that he has made long prayers and preserved a solemn counte- 
nance, while at the moment he was planning some method of 
adding to his earthly treasures, or taking from the treasures of a 
less crafty brother. It is lamented that the polluted and degraded 
individual who worships a God of wrath, and consigns the greater 
portion of the race to unending torment, should stand beside the 
altar with uplifted hands and pleading voice, dealing out the fires 
of an imaginary hell, while he knows that the motive which 
actuates every word and gesture is the applause of men and the 
maintenance of his profitable craft. It is lamented that Sin and 
Error have been seated hand in hand within the very temple 
whose gates are closed against the poor and desolate — that the 



12 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

music of the human voice has been perverted by the hypocrisy of 
the heart — that the songs of praise, which should be the outflow- 
ing of inward melody, have been burdened with the mournful 
wail of woe. It is lamented that the blight which has fallen on 
the race through the recompense of sin, has dwarfed and deformed 
the soul to the destruction of its purest joys ; that the radiance of 
heavenly truth has been shut out from the abodes and sanctuaries 
of men, and has been thrown back by the repelling atmosphere 
of society, towards the home from which it flowed. 

The tendency of Materialism has been manifested in the effect 
which the popular and prevailing doctrines have had upon the 
mind. Spirits see that these doctrines have been as chains to the 
soul whose longings for freedom have been suppressed with their 
heavy weight. They see that the beauty which is impressed upon 
the mirror of the spirit, has been destroyed by the veil which 
Superstition has thrown upon its pure and reflecting surface ; that 
the bright imagery of the skies is defaced and blotted by the foul 
breathings of religious error, and that the purity which is the 
birthright and inheritance of every soul, is removed by the 
polluting corruptions of the existing Church. The emanation 
that arises from the surface of the earth, has been rendered foul 
and dense by the materialistic views and feelings with which the 
worshiping people are degraded. It is distinctly seen and most 
deeply felt by the spirits of Heaven, that the low and groveling 
conceptions — the gross and earthly theories which have been 
baptized in the name of Christ, have been the means by which 
the true light of the soul has been darkened, and by which also 
the visits of angels have been delayed. The great mission of the 
Church has been to save the souls of men while it has destroyed 
their reason — to excite the debasing fear of some imaginary 
torture in order to awaken some religious sensibility — to bring 
tears to the human eye that repentance may deliver the soul from 
wrath — to subdue the heart with a depressing gloom that the 
joys of salvation may be inwardly experienced ! While faith has 
been made the test of Christian fellowship, conscience has been 
allowed no place in the counsels of religious craft ; while the 
grace of God has been relied upon as the true and only means of 
human redemption, the works of righteousness have been esteemed 



TENDENCY OF MATERIALISM. 13 

as of little importance ; in short while the great object of the 
Christian has been to escape from hell, he has forgotten all the 
nobler impulses which belong to his immortal nature. The source 
of such inconsistencies may be traced to the selfishness, the 
grossness, and sensuality, which have been incorporated with all 
the saving doctrines and ordinances of the Church. Man has 
even dreamed that it was his body which should be saved, while the 
priest has labored hard over his poor soul ; he has thought that the 
fire which burns as an oven would not be entirely agreeable to his 
external sensibilities, and hence he has been exceedingly attracted 
to a heaven where he may lie down and rest in the green pastures, 
like the inoffensive brutes whose ease he inwardly desires. At 
the same time that the fiery religion of the world claims to be 
eminently spiritual, the realities which it presents as inducements 
for embracing it are almost wholly of a material nature. Indeed 
the very nature of spirit has been entirely misapprehended by 
the Church, and has been so little appreciated as to render the 
substance here indicated of but doubtful importance. It is to be 
fed, and clothed, and enriched, that the clergyman delivers his 
sermons ; it is to be seen and admired that the proud and wealthy 
attend the services of the sanctuary, and it is to be saved — saved 
from a material and burning hell — that the ignorant and super- 
stitious are especially laboring. It is a scene which makes the 
angels sigh — this wide-spread and darkening materialism. The 
spirits of light have been repulsed from this scene of living death ; 
and they have mourned that the atmosphere arising from the 
earth has been so deeply and foully dense. 

The spirits have seen what the fanatical adherents of the popu- 
lar faith do not see. It is apparent to their vision that the world 
is lost in error and needs to be saved from this blighting power ; 
that it is lost in sin and needs to be saved from its cruel stiner : 

C3 7 

that it is lost in the wilderness of ignorance and needs to be saved 
from its dismal gloom. The tendency of the spiritual power will 
therefore be the reverse of the material. It will be to elevate, 
expand, and ennoble the soul, without regard to the fancied tor- 
tures which may be supposed to await the body. It will be to 
infuse life into the inmost heart of man — to develop the latent 
energies of the spiritual nature, and unfold the internal being in 



14: ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

the harmony and sweetness of the angelic life. This is the true 
mission of the Spiritual Philosophy. In this there are no offer- 
ings to be rendered to a being of wrath — no wails of grief to be 
deepened by the vision of despair — no sacrifices of blood and 
tears to be given upon the altar of the freed soul. The mission 
of such a truth is one in which the angels rejoice. It is one which 
causes the song of praise to deepen and swell through the courts 
of Heaven. It is one which the spirits of the upper world delight 
to welcome, and in which the dwellers of earth shall find their 
sweetest joy. 



INTERIOR REALITIES. 

Spirits whose love has been given freely to the human world, 
and whose blessing ever rests upon the kindred spirits of earth, 
desire to reveal the realities which are beheld with their expand- 
ed vision and the truths which are revealed from higher Spheres. 
They desire to lead man to reason on the interior principles of 
Nature, and not entirely by the assistance of the external laws 
which govern the world of visible substance. It is their wish to 
unfold the real realities of which the external forms of the Universe 
are only as fleeting shadows. It is their aim to whisper to the 
inward ear of the spirit those thoughts which shall be as nourish- 
ing food to the inward man, and which shall be received as light 
into the chambers of the heart. It is their endeavor to establish 
an uninterrupted intercourse with the whole body of humanity, 
that all its numerous members may be blessed with the visions 
of truth and beauty which the spirits have in store for all whose 
minds are prepared for the blissful realities of Heaven, and for 
all whose hearts have been crushed and down-trodden by the arm 
of the tyrant. Therefore is the mission of the spirits upon the 
earth the mission of the savior, the mission of the reformer, and 
the mission of the teacher. 

The realities which are beheld by spirits are not the realities 
which are beheld by mortals. In the deep heart of the ever- 
expanding Universe they extend their gaze, and through all the 
expanse of unfolding Life they leam the lessons of true wisdom. 



INTERIOR REALITIES. 15 

The agents of the great Spirit are ever in the field of labor. 
They are ever engaged, heartily and earnestly, in the work which 
is determined by their interior capacity, and which is assigned to 
them by the adaptation which is manifested between the work and 
the worker. Therefore are the truths which dwell in the recesses 
of Nature — truths which the vision of mortals cannot discover — 
made known by the searching spirit whose perceptions seek and 
find the reality. It is the design of the spirits to reveal some of 
the interior realities which they have discovered in the investiga- 
tions of centuries, and speak of the beauties and glories which are 
constantly opening to their vision from the heights and depths of 
the surrounding Universe. What they propose to reveal in this 
connection will have reference to the primary truths which need 
to be fully understood before entering into more profound investi- 
gations. While, then, the listening ear is open to their voice, they 
will speak that the world may hear. 

The world has been exceedingly ignorant of the relations which 
subsist between Spirit and Matter. It has had but a feeble and 
shadowy conception of the real nature of these two substances, 
and the apparent difference which exists between them. It has 
formed an extremely imperfect idea of the inferiority of the one and 
the superiority of the other. It has been content to accede to the 
old systems of Theology and the musty records of the popular 
faith. It has been satisfied to believe what the ancient authors 
taught, and what the people in past ages received. It has been 
blinded by the watch-fires of the olden worship, and has been 
chained to the altars of sectarian temples. Thus the world is the 
repository of creeds and sects — the receptacle of experimental 
eiTor and filthy abominations — whose blindness is the only excuse 
for its folly, and whose darkness is only the absence of light. 
Therefore would the spirits of the Celestial Spheres speak of the 
relations which subsist between Matter and Spirit, that the world 
may comprehend some small part of the glory and perfection of 
the visible Universe, and may attain some feeble appreciation of 
the dignity and purity of the human soul. 

In the primitive birth of Creation, when Matter was undergo- 
ing the process of evolution from the chaos of unparticled ele- 
ments, the principles of association and development, in their 



16 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

natural and unrestricted action, produced a congregation and 
union of the vast Univercoelum in such a manner as to form suns, 
planets, and systems. This association of the original elements of 
matter brought into one inconceivable mass the principles, essen- 
ces, and substances of the immeasurable Whole ; and in the con- 
tinued and unceasing process of organization and refinement 
which was carried on the vortex of the unfolding Universe, the 
various forms and objects were developed which bask in the light 
of countless suns and contain the invisible properties and essen- 
ces of Nature. When this process had been continued for an 
inconceivable number of ages, the Universe presented a reflec- 
tion of the refinement and beauty which dwell in the Supreme 
Soul, and prefigured the ultimate end and design which were 
conceived before the morning stars were born. Then from the 
infinite depths of immensity rolled forth the majestic worlds in 
their eternal course, and then pealed out on the silence of the 
wide expanse, the sweet and melodious anthem of Creation. As 
in the sublime heights of Nature, the Divinity breathed upon the 
unfolding flower of the Universe, and spake with irresistible com- 
mand to the rolling worlds, there was created the hidden and 
unseen, but divine and immortal essence, which is the germ of 
the human spirit. This essence was contained in every substance 
which was brought into being, and was concentrated within every 
particle that floated in the whispering air. It was the all-pene- 
trating and all-pervading essence of the material world, and form- 
ed the life and animation of the breathing Universe. It was the 
eternal flower whose fragrance was the light of unnumbered 
worlds ; it was the interior and indwelling principle of the great 
Soul which was implanted in the very womb of Matter. Thus 
Spirit and Matter have existed together from eternity'; they have 
dwelt in harmonious union with each other from the first ushering 
of the Universe into the vast void of space. Thus were these two 
substances the original materials from which all the worlds and 
systems of worlds were created, and thus were they the indes- 
tructible basis on which was to be erected that glorious and stu- 
pendous temple in which the Presiding Spirit holds his residence. 
Now these two substances to which we have referred, exist in 
everything which was or is. They comprise a part of all the 



INTERIOR REALITIES. 17 

innumerable forms which are seen in the expanse of Nature, and 
constitute the perfection and beauty of the visible Universe. 
They make up the congregated Whole of the vast realms of space, 
and exist in beautiful and eternal union in each separate particle. 
They reach the heights and depths of the hallowed fabric which 
God has made, and establish the unfailing foundation of all suc- 
ceeding creations. In these two substances, therefore, may be 
discovered the entire structure of the visible and invisible Spheres 
of being, and in these may be recognized the essential elements 
of the human body and the human spirit. 

The reader is now prepared to perceive the relations which 
subsist between Spirit and Matter, and comprehend how the one 
may be incorporated with the other in the formation of external 
substances and in the production of the human organism. The spir- 
its desire that in this investigation the mind of the medium and 
reader should remain passive, that they may unfold the realities 
which pertain to this subject in a clear and satisfactory manner. 
They would reveal the true and living thoughts of the higher 
angels, and would transmit to the inhabitants of earth those 
breathings of celestial truth which are the pure streams of the 
eternal Spring. The relations of Spirit and Matter are revealed 
to the perceptions of spirits, because they are the superior leaders 
of the grand procession of beings which extends from earth to 
Heaven, and are the prevailing powers of the unseen regions, 
whose mission is to search, analyze, and comprehend the princi- 
ples and essences of Nature. They would speak, therefore, to 
the reasoning mind, and unfold these relations as they exist 
between the material and spiritual Spheres. 

The essence of Spirit, we have said, exists in the primitive ele- 
ments of every substance. This essence is the refinement and per- 
fection of the most interior labyrinths of Matter, and forms the 
unseen but all-pervading agent of the moving Universe. Far 
down below the surface of material forms where the human eve 
has never reached, dwell those refined, invisible, and sublimated 
principles which are the living and animating spirit of the 
visible world. Spirit, then, is nothing more than the highest 
refinement and development of the gross elements of Nature ; it 
is the invisible principle which exists in a diffused and unperfect- 
3 



18 ELEMENTS OP SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

ed state in all the beautiful sanctuary of the Supreme Mind. 
Thus Spirit is not the unreal, unsubstantial and immaterial noth- 
ing which has usually been supposed by those who profess to be 
teachers of spiritual things. It is rather the interior life — the 
animating soul — the sublimated essence, which pervades all the 
vast creations of the Divine Mind, and which exists as the inward 
temple of the animated Universe, whose courts are illumined with 
the presence of the all-powerful God. The relations, therefore, 
that subsist between the elements of Spirit and the regions of 
Matter, are the most intimate and essential that can be conceived. 
They are the same as the relations of heat and light, wind and 
air, clouds and vapors, lightning and thunder, life and breath. 
They are the same as the relations which exist between any two 
of the most intimately united substances in being ; for Matter 
cannot exist without the presence of Spirit, and Spirit could have 
no other home in the wide temple of Creation, than the external 
and reanimating forms with which this is beautified and adorned. 
Spirit, then, is matter in its most refined and etherial state ; it is 
the pre-eminent and superior principle of all existing substance, — 
the operations of which are silent and unheard, but which is rap- 
id and powerful in its eternal course. It is the connecting link 
between the lifeless mass of materials that fill the realms of 
immensity, and the breathing, living, and all-pervading Deity who 
animates and inspires the whole. It is the flower whose bloom is 
motion, whose fragrance is intelligence, and whose life is the 
breath of Heaven. It is the tree whose verdure is unfading, and 
whose blossoms are unfolded in celestial light. It is the expanse 
of interior life, whose heights and depths reach far out into the 
immeasurable Infinite. 

The intimate and necessary connection which exists between 
the essence of Spirit and the forms of Matter, will be more dis- 
tinctly perceived when viewed in the human organization. Spirit 
is here observed to come into close connection with the material 
body, and evidently forms the inward principle whose presence 
imparts life, and strength, and power, to all its movements. In this 
case the mind is forced to admit the existence of a power which 
it could never otherwise recognize ; and hence it is proper to take 
this as a basis for the discovery of those higher realities which 



INTEEIOE REALITIES. 19 

dwell beyond the immediate reach of the outward senses. Spirit 
is the moving principle of the hnman body. This is demonstra- 
ted in the daily experience of every inclividnal. Then in every 
action of the outward form — in eveiy separate movement of its 
limbs — in every expression of the countenance, and in every look 
which beams from the eye, may be witnessed a spiritual demon- 
stration. Hence every individual who is willing to exercise the 
faculty of reason, must believe in the action of Spirit on the gross 
elements of Matter. The spirits would employ this as an illus- 
tration of a principle which is permanently and eternally estab- 
lished ; for if the human spirit in its connection with the external 
organism is able to move and regulate the nerves, sinews and 
bones of which it is composed, then the same spirit when coming 
in connection with matter in other forms, and when arranging the 
intermediate links which are necessary to establish this connec- 
tion, may, in the presence of required conditions, control the 
external and visible substances which are supposed to have no 
relation to the elements of Spirit. 

It will now be perceived that the relations of Spirit to the 
grosser elements are extremely intimate ; and that it requires no 
sacrifice of reason or stretch of credulity to believe that spirits, 
whose material bodies have returned to dust, may, by placing 
themselves in similar relations with matter to those they sustained 
when in the form, so operate on the refined substances which 
make up the essence of spirit, as to move, attract, and control 
the very grossest bodies. This being the case, the spirits may 
require the proof of an opposite statement, and demand the rea- 
son that they cannot affect matter in the manner referred to ; and 
they would do this in order to force the mind back to its own 
interior convictions, for they realize that when reason and intui- 
tion are allowed to utter their voice in the human soul, there will 
be a natural and spontaneous response in favor of the truths 
which have been here advanced. In order to meet the demands 
of the skeptic and the wants of the bigot, the spirits have thus con- 
descended to reason after the manner of men, when they might 
have properly spoken with the authority of higher knowledge. 

Spirits do not desire that the world should believe without evi- 
dence, nor do they wish that evidence should be forced on those 



20 ELEMENTS OE SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

minds which are not willing to receive it. They do not desire 
that men should be compelled to believe in opposition to the dic- 
tates of reason and the demands of conscience. They do not 
desire that the rights of individual freedom or the sacredness of 
the heaven-born spirit should be violated. They do not desire 
that the privilege of investigation should be restricted to a few, 
or that the blessings of spiritual intercourse should be shut up 
within the w r alls of any sanctuary. But they desire that all should 
be free in spirit as the lark that glides through the morning air — 
that all should investigate the realities of the soul, as candidly 
as they would search into the principles of matter — that all should 
be blessed with the joys and happiness which now down in sweet 
and unfailing streams from the Eternal Fount. 

The relations of Spirit and Matter w T ill be better understood 
when the real nature of these substances is more fully perceived. 
They will then be seen to be the same as exist between the most 
intimate forms of matter in the bounds of Nature. The latter 
substance, namely Matter, is the basis or foundation of Spirit, and 
the essence of Spirit is the soul and life of Matter. In the prim- 
itive forms of material substance, these two elements are as it 
were interwoven into each other, and sustain relations of the most 
intimate nature, but exist in a diffused state. The spiritual ele- 
ments are spread throughout the most interior portions of the 
material, and the material form the body or clothing of the spir- 
itual. Thus the entire organization of Nature is composed of the 
two substances or elements which are here mentioned, and thus the 
life and beauty of the vast fabric of the Universe are dependent 
on their reciprocal action. When the elements of Spirit exist in 
their most diffused state and are intermingled with the whole 
body of Matter, the grossest and most unrefined forms are produ- 
ced, and presented in the numerous creations of the mineral king- 
dom. "When these elements are more fully gathered and concentra- 
ted in one separate existence, and are approaching towards the devel- 
opment of an individual form, then there are created still higher 
and more refined organisms as seen in the vegetable kingdom. 
When the elements of Spirit have reached a still higher point of 
progress, and have assumed a superiority over the frame-work of 
Matter so as to develop sensation, the forms of animals and more 



INTERIOR REALITIES. 21 

perfect brutes are produced, in which the interior essence may 
approach the beauty and perfection of the human spirit. When 
these elements have attained to a perfect concentration so as to 
constitute a united, perfect, and indestructible organization within 
the human body, then the man — the flower of Creation — the per- 
fection of the Universe, and the child of the Eternal, has entered 
upon the course of an immortal existence. And when this devel- 
oped, perfected, and blissful spirit has become so far independent 
of its form as to exercise the senses which belong to itself alone — 
when it has power to soar beyond the limits of time and scan the 
measureless heights of Infinity — when it can breathe the pare and 
invigorating atmosphere of the heavenly home, and bask in the 
unfolding light of the celestial world — then is it released from its 
tenement of clay, freed from the clogs of its earthly frame, and 
translated to the brightness of its own native Heaven. 

Spirits have lingered around the couch on which the weary and 
diseased form was writhing in its untold agony, and they have 
delighted to soothe and comfort the departing spirit with beauti- 
ful visions of its future dwelling-place. They have whispered in 
low, sweet tones, which only the struggling soul could hear, of the 
happiness which awaits the earth-born pilgrim ; and they have 
sung in the gladness of sympathizing hearts the anthem of wel- 
come to the rising spirit. O how joyous is the birth which is the 
freedom of the soul ! How blissful is the scene in which one who 
has mourned and sorrowed long, is brought to the mansions of 
eternal joy! How the song of praise gushes from the lips and 
swells in the hearts of the immortals, when the lost is found and 
the weary are at rest ! Then expand the arms and hearts of angels 
to receive the wanderer — then wakes the anthem of rejoicing in 
a million souls — then opens the transcendent beauties and sweet- 
ens the heavenly air, with which the angel-home is filled ! 

In this connection the .spirits desire to speak briefly of the per- 
vading brightness and glory of the celestial abode. In the home 
which they now inhabit, they are surrounded with the most glori- 
ous, the most resplendent and ineffable beauty which imagina- 
tion can conceive. Far and wide spread out the radiant fields, 
whose surface is gilded with the mellow light of the celestial 
skies. Spiritual and etherial essences pervade the shining atmos- 



22 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

phere, and a deep and deathless life is inhaled with every breath. 
Above, beneath, around, everywhere, are soft and blending hues 
— all permeated with the golden radiance which flows from a still 
brighter heaven. The vast expanse is filled with the brilliancy of 
angelic forms, and pervaded with the snbtle and refined substan- 
ces that compose the eternal mansions of God. Deep beneath 
the glowing surface of yielding elements lie the hidden harmo- 
nies which sweeten and tranquilize the soul, and far away in the 
illimitable distance opens the gateway of more blissful Spheres. 
The shadows that freshen the shining ground bring peace and 
repose to the ever-searching spirit, whose thoughts are as unwea- 
ried as the rolling orbs, and whose affections flow out toward the 
beautiful and divine creations which are revealed to its opening 
vision. Spirits look forth upon the external beauties which are 
contained in their Sphere with the same emotions of delight, the 
same holy thrill of adoration, and the same sweet and tranquil 
harmony, which pervade the depths of the earthly soul in its 
silent worship at the altars of Nature. But O, how much sweeter 
flows the stream of bliss, how much brighter glows the radiant 
light, and how much deeper descends the searching vision of the 
spirit, than amid the dark and dismal scenes of earth ! The lan- 
guage of the human world is scarcely adequate to delineate the 
transcendent glories and the inconceivable delights which dwell 
in the Second Sphere of spiritual existence. This is not the 
unregenerated sphere which is subject like the earth to the action 
of growth and decay, but it is the fruitful and ever-blooming land 
of immortal beauty, which no wintry storm can blight and no 
shadowing clouds can mar. The countless moving and blending 
forms are pervaded with the breathing essence of divine light, 
which constitutes the interior beauty that sparkles in the trans- 
parency of their radiant depths. It is the soul which permeates 
through the whole Spiritual Universe — which pervades the eternal 
beauties that open to the gaze of angels, and which also lives in 
the most interior portions of external Nature as the unseen and 
unparticled element that has its birth in the breath of Deity 
Therefore the appearance of all that exists below the celestial world, 
is dark and dismal in the extreme ; and hence spirits have been 
repelled from the sphere of earth and the society of men, because 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 23 

they have been uniUuminated with the light which forms the 
essential element of the spiritual being. But the reflection of 
celestial radiance begins to fall npon humanity ; the realities 
which spirits desire to impart are sought and aspired to by the 
groping multitude, and thus by an increasing assimilation between 
the worlds of mortal and immortal being, there is opened a 
pathway by which the angels can descend and bless their earthly 
kindred. 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 

The subject of Spiritual Intercourse is the most important and 
essential in the whole sphere of the present age. It is a subject 
which the human soul, in its beauty and perfection, cannot medi- 
tate upon without emotions of love and devotion. It is a subject 
which the people do not properly understand, and which the 
brightness of the future can alone fully unfold. It is a subject 
which the pure in heart and the blessed in spirit will appreciate, 
but which the skeptical, prejudiced, and unreasonable mind 
will reject with unmingled scorn. It is one which the blinded 
mass have no wish to understand, and which the hundreds of 
misguided souls view merely in the light of falsehood and decep- 
tion. It is one which the spirits of the Heavenly Spheres desire 
to elucidate and explain, though the truths which they convey 
may be in opposition to the views of this medium, and the 
prejudices of those by whom they are perused. Thus the high 
and beautiful thoughts which shall be addressed to the reason and 
understanding of the reader, shall be independent of the mental 
tendencies of the instrument employed, and shall bring joyful 
tidings to those who move in the labyrinths of sorrow. 

The subject of Spiritual Intercourse has been generally and 
almost blindly misapprehended by the benighted mass, and has 
been unilluminated by all the theories and doctrines which have 
been bom in the lapse of unnumbered ages. Bright and holy 
are the voices which the ministers of Heaven bring to the blighted 
soul in mourning, and which the hallowed mind receives as the 
whisperings of celestial sweetness. They fall on the listening ear 



24 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

with silent but thrilling power, and they sink down into the 
depths of the stricken soul like the music of a thousand zephyrs. 
More holy and bright are these than the beams of radiance that 
now from the morning sky, and illuminate the expanse of earth 
with golden floods ; brighter because they bring light from a higher 
and purer source, and more holy because they have their being 
in the celestial and all-blissful angels who inhabit the many 
mansions of the Father. They are the blessed and blessing voices 
of the higher Spheres ; their brightness is felt by the illumined 
and sanctified spirit, and their holiness is received into its most 
interior chambers. Thus are the voices which the spirits bear to 
earth but the echo of angelic music, and the reflection of the 
Divine glory. 

Sing, therefore, ye pilgrims of time, who have mourned and 
sorrowed without hope, for the heavenly world and the sphere of 
earth have entered into eternal union. The mournful traveler of 
the desert sees not the oasis which awaits him ; the storm-tossed 
mariner beholds not the light which gleams above the clouds, 
and the poor and almost deserted watcher of the night views not 
the glorious Day which is rising from its cradled slumber. But 
the spirits of the Heavenly Spheres see what the mortals of earth 
do not see ; and in the sweet, but long deferred hopes of the 
bleeding heart, in the bright, but shadowy vision of the dreaming 
seer, and in the pure, but crushed aspirations of the oppressed spirit, 
they view the earnest of the approaching glory. The numerous 
prayers, and wailings, and praises of the people have not secured 
the blessings which they have unrighteously sought ; but the 
deep and gnawing want — the actual and moving necessities of the 
soul, have created the manifestation of angelic sympathy. Thus 
has the world received what its condition and its wants demanded ; 
and so have the breathings of spirit-voices awakened the sweet 
blossoms of earth into the freshness of immortal life. 

Sing, ye inhabitants of the earth, and proclaim the tidings of 
good will to men. Sing, ye sorrow-stricken souls, who see no joy 
in life and no light in darkness, for the happiness and love which 
the blissful angels bring are now beginning to be revealed. Sing, 
ye bound and trampled minds, which the humbled world has 
humbled the more, for the brightness of freedom has come to 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 25 

cheer jour secret gloom. Sing, ye toiling, burdened, and oppressed 
captives of earth, who groan beneath the heavy yoke of labor, and 
sigh with immingled and unheeded grief, for the era has arrived 
when joy shall fill your aching hearts, and peace shall steal upon 
your troubled thoughts. The nations of the earth have been visited 
with the blessings that now from the regions of undimmed light ; 
and the heaving, crushed, and mourning souls of men have been 
bound up and healed with an ointment of saving power. Therefore, 
be joyful, ye nations who thus grope in the vale of grief, for 
pure is the brightness and holy are the voices to be revealed. 

The joys of Spiritual Intercourse are the joys of the new-born 
soul, and the philosophy of spiritual intercourse is the philosophy 
of the enlightened soul. In these joys and in this philosophy the 
trembling heart finds a source of heavenly peace, and derives a 
pleasure which earth cannot afford. "When the storm arises in the 
sky and the clouds are blackened with their hidden wrath, the soul 
looks up to heaven for light ; and when the rolling billows heave in 
the commotion of the angry winds, the radiance of the cheerful 
morn throws its calm upon the troubled deep. So when the world 
has become tempest-tossed and darkened in its course, and when the 
throbbing bosom has had no rest in its fearful agony, the blessed 
and blessing spirits have visited the earth, that the storm may sink 
into the silence of Nature's harmony, and that the clouds may float 
from their azure home. The spirits of the Celestial Spheres have 
decided to speak to the world on the subject of Spiritual Inter- 
course, because they desire that happiness and peace may be 
substituted for the dismal wastes of superstition and ignorance. 

At the outset of this revealment, the spirits desire to speak of 
the relations which subsist between the world of spirit and the 
world of matter. They wish to unfold the truth that the connec- 
tion which is constantly maintained between these two worlds, is 
of such a nature as to breathe the same elements from one to the 
other, so that these elements may blend and mingle in the most 
beautiful harmony. The relations which subsist between the 
human spirit and the body which it inhabits, is not more intimate 
than that which is preserved between the sphere of Heaven and 
the sphere of earth. There is no boundary line by which these 
are divided or separated; but the one unites with the other 
4 



26 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

through the assimilation of kindred essences, as the radiance of 
the twilight blends with the deepening sky. These relations may 
not be, and certainly are not, apparent to the external observer, 
bnt they are seen by the enlightened spirit to form the essential 
union of the whole material and spiritual Universe. The sweet- 
ness which lingers in the holy sky is the source of the light that 
gladdens earth ; and the inherent affections which are born 
within the earthly soul are the attraction by which the answering 
spirits are brought from their distant home. These blendings of 
soul with soul and this perfect correspondence between the 
earthly and heavenly loves, form an indissoluble chain of being 
which ascends from the world of material existence to the Sphere 
of unfading light; and through the medium of this chain — 
through the immutable and ever-living affection which dwells in 
the angel-heart, and through the deep-rising prayers which go up 
from the most profound recesses of the human bosom, the spirits 
of the upper world are constantly ascending and descending from 
the heights of Heaven to the habitations of men, and are ever 
breathing out the consoling truths and elevating thoughts which 
will serve to encourage and inspire the earthly mind. The angels 
are employed as messengers by the Divine Spirit to accomplish 
the great work of human redemption; they are the medium 
through which the revelations of His love and truth are borne 
down to earth ; and in the constant and unfailing love which they 
feel for the lost and sorrowing — in the holy and elevating influ- 
ence which they are enabled to exert — in the blissful and heavenly 
truths which they bring to the unenlightened souls of mortals — 
and in the sweet and consoling voices which thrill through the 
silent depths of the spirit, is clearly manifested the commission 
which they have obtained from the Presiding Power, who rules 
in wisdom, power and love, over the vast and immeasurable 
expanse of worlds. Thus are the most intimate and essential 
relations established between the two worlds of being to which 
reference is here made ; and the results of these relations are 
visible in the opening joy, in the emotions of hope, in the labors 
of love, and in the works of development, which now appear on 
the budding and brightening earth. Peaceful and glorious is the 
scene which opens to the illuminated mind, whose vision extends 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 27 

beyond the shadows of the Present towards the radiance of the 
approaching Future ! The holy powers of the Spirit-world are 
connected with the realms that he in darkness. Ministers of 
Heaven are the messengers that bear tidings of good-will to men. 
Smiles from the angels are beaming upon the lower world, and 
glories, shining through the dim veil of time, are reflected on 
the sighing breast of Humanity. Hence the relations established 
between the dwellers of higher Spheres and the inhabitants of 
earth, are analogous to those that subsist between the substances 
of which these habitations are composed; and therefore the 
beauty, the perfection and the brightness of the one are but the 
reflection of the clearer radiance which is ever flowing from the 
other. 

The philosophical relation which exists between the two worlds 
of human and immortal existence, is naturally seen in the light 
of those perfect and unchanging laws that form the union and 
harmony which are here unfolded. This relation may be under- 
stood from a proper and consistent view of the connection which 
is apparent between the substance of Matter and the substance 
of Spirit. It is comprehended from a rational conception of the 
mission and labor of the angelic host — from the lovfe and con- 
stancy with which they watch over the degraded children of men, 
and from the living and immortal truths which are revealed to 
a burdened and weeping world. The blessed and beautiful Heav- 
en which lies unseen in the upper deep, is the superior develop- 
ment and crowning perfection of the material sphere. It is a 
continued manifestation of that law of progress whose operations 
are visible in the outward world and whose influence is felt through 
the wide fields of space. It is the blissful home towards which 
the pilgrims of time are ever aspiring, ever toiling, and ever 
advancing. It is the spiritual emanation from the gross but smil- 
ing world of matter. It is the radiant birth — the outflowing 
glory of a lower sphere, whose reflection reaches far down into 
the material Universe, and whose light shines far out into the most 
distant realms. It is the embodied grandeur and beauty of the 
vast Creation, from which all inferior grandeur is derived, and 
beside which all other beauty becomes dim. It is the unfolded 
and immortal flower, whose fragrance is the life of worlds and 



28 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

whose bloom is the joy of angels. Thus is the Spirit-world but a 
higher stage in the gradations of material substance ; and thus 
does it represent only the superior development of that imperfect 
germ which is seen in the visible and external world. 

The spirits desire to reveal the truths which relate to the sub- 
ject of Spiritual Intercourse, by referring to the heavenly realities 
which have been unrevealed to all the seers of the past. They 
wish to speak of the truth which they clearly perceive, that the 
world of spirits is the beautiful and perfected realm of the dis- 
robed angels which the Father has blessed with power over the 
imperfect creatures of the world below, and whose mission it is to 
impart instruction and wisdom to those who are groping amid the 
thick vapors of earth. Spirits would say that the plane of being 
on which they dwell is superior to the plane of being that is 
occupied by mortals ; that the wisdom which they have gathered 
in the research of ages, is more exalted than all the wisdom which 
is known to the human mind, and that the truths which they have 
sought and found on the lofty eminence of celestial being, are far 
more profound, and rich, and beautiful, than those which have been 
the result of earthly investigation. Therefore are they the instruc- 
tors of the children of men — the teachers of heavenly realities 
to those who dwell in darkness, and the friends of the supersti- 
tious and ignorant who bow before the idols of their heart-wor- 
ship. By the profound and gladdening truths which they are 
prepared to reveal — by the spiritual and immortal wisdom which 
they have attained and treasured — by the stores of knowledge 
which have been the result of long and patient examination, spir- 
its are placed in the exalted position where they are naturally 
endowed with the office and mission which are here represented. 
"With this view of the angel- world and the beings by whom it is 
inhabited, the reasoning mind will very readily perceive the true 
philosophy of Spiritual Intercourse. It will see that spirits have 
a work to do which brings them into intimate connection with 
their kindred spirits in the body — that they have an office to ful- 
fill which renders their presence necessarily near to the inhabi- 
tants of earth — that they have a mission to perform which has 
reference to the greatest and most united effort of the whole celes- 
tial world for the enlightenment, elevation, and redemption of 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 29 

humanity. The truths which spirits have learned are not to be 
selfishly treasured in their own bosoms ; the sweet and peaceful 
thoughts which they have gathered as gems of light, are not to be 
made the ornaments of the shining brow which sheds no luster 
on those beneath; the principles of Nature which have been 
searched in her deepest recesses and analyzed by the power of a 
spiritual chemistry, are not to be thrown by in the upward pro- 
gress of the angel without benefit to such as are lingering in the 
poverty of lower circles. There is a tie which all mortal efforts 
cannot destroy — a bond which is indestructible as the bands of 
the Universe, which unites the dwellers of the Heavenly Spheres 
to the inhabitants of this planet. The bigotry, the derision and 
scorn which the ignorant feel and manifest, cannot utterly exclude 
the light which spirits have decided to furnish. While men are 
blindly laboring in opposition to their own good and exerting a 
repelling influence against all that bears the signature of Heaven, 
the spirits are laboring to secure to them the blessings which are 
unseen, and teaching the lessons which are not of earth. It is 
not a congenial task to thus force a benefit on those who are 
unwilling to receive, but it is one which belongs to the mission of 
spirits who have been appointed as the world's instructors. The 
contempt with which their revelations are regarded, awakens no 
corresponding sentiment in their own hearts ; and the more deter- 
mined grows the opposition with which they meet — the more hostile 
are the views and designs of mortals, the more apparent to them 
becomes the necessity for increased exertion, and the more united 
are their efforts for the enlightenment of man. So earthly hate is 
answered with heavenly love — human wrath, is returned with 
smiles of peace — mortal suffering is regarded with celestial sym- 
pathy. Spirits have thus revealed the office and mission of the 
heavenly hosts with relation to the inhabitants of earth, and in 
these may be seen the foundation-principle on which the subject 
of Spiritual Intercourse is based. 

The world of humanity needs the revealment of another prin- 
ciple which has been entirely overlooked in the discussion of this 
subject. It needs to be made acquainted with the truth that 
the spirits have taken a watchful and guardian care over the world 
through the past periods of its history. It needs to perceive and 



30 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

realize the fact that the whole body of humanity has been fed and 
nurtured by the beings who hover unseen around its bosom — 
that the first gleamings of intellectual light were poured by them 
upon the benighted nations — that the great reformers and teach- 
ers who have blessed the world with the voice of wisdom, have 
been inspired and strengthened by their influence, and that the 
entire course of human progress — < the whole chain of the world's 
destiny from its earliest infancy to the present hour, has been 
watched and directed by the angel-powers. This truth will reveal 
the cause of the rapid and harmonious advancement of man 
through the midnight of spiritual darkness. It will account for 
the great light which has had its embodiment in the teachers and 
philosophers of other ages. It will show the reason that the 
world has emerged so speedily from its overshadowing gloom — 
that it has arisen so majestically from its overwhelming corrup- 
tions — that it is moving onward with such resistless power 
towards the ultimate of its glorious career. But this truth will 
also explain another fact which has been recorded in the annals 
of human history, — -the fact that every age, from the earliest peri- 
od of the world to the present, has presented illustrations of 
spiritual presence and power — that the world has always been 
favored with the manifestations of spirits, and that it has been 
astonished with wonderful and mysterious works which have been 
regarded as the interpositions of Divine energy. In the light of 
this truth, it is easy to explain the cause and philosojDhy of those 
miraculous occurrences which took place in the days of Moses, 
Jesus, and the Apostles ; it is not difficult to perceive the source 
of all those mysterious events which are supposed to have been 
illustrations of the authority of God, and it is easy to comprehend 
the reason that so profound a reverence was paid to those individ- 
uals who, from the works that immediately followed their com- 
mand, were imagined to be in communion with the Divine Being. 
Let it therefore be deeply impressed that the spirits have been 
the faithful watchers of humanity in all the various stages of its 
progress ; let it be remembered that they have guided its trem- 
bling footsteps to the doors of the spiritual temple ; and let the 
truth be profoundly realized that it has been their power, their 
wisdom, and their love, which have produced the miracles of the 
past and present. 



SPIRITUAL INTERCOURSE. 31 

The spirits perceive another principle which has an intimate 
connection with the subject on which they are now speaking. 
This principle has reference to the intercourse which spirits are 
enabled to maintain between the regions of space and the world of 
humanity. What is signified by the expression here employed, 
is simply that spirits preserve a constant connection between the 
realms of the spiritual world and the sphere of earth, which con- 
nection is always sustained by the unceasing emanation of mate- 
rial substances and by the frequent departure of spirits from the 
body. There is, unseen to the human eye, a material and spirit- 
ual atmosphere which flows from all external objects, and ascends, 
through the inherent forces of Nature, towards the Celestial Heav- 
ens. This atmosphere is the connecting chain which unites the 
spiritual with the material world, and which forms a radiant path- 
way leading from the gross and external forms of earth to the 
refined and interior forms of spirit. By the chain and through 
the j>athway here mentioned, the spirit, on its departure from the 
material structure, is enabled to ascend according to the attraction 
of affinity towards the unknown heights of the spiritual world ; 
and by means, also, of the same chain and pathway, the inhabi- 
tants of this Sphere descend to the habitations of mortals and 
welcome the rejoicing spirit in its birth. In this principle man- 
kind may perceive the beauty and philosophy of Spiritual Inter- 
course ; and they may see the sublimity which is manifested in 
the relations of the lower and immortal Sphere. 

Spirits have now finished their remarks on this subject. They 
have endeavored to reveal the principles which are most prominent 
in the intercourse which they have maintained with the inhabit- 
ants of their native planet ; they have labored to express the 
truths which would be easily and naturally comprehended by the 
investigating mind, and they have given a knowledge of those 
peaceful and elevating thoughts which serve to tranquilize the 
desires and affections of the soul. Spirits have spoken the words 
of truth which the world needs to receive into the depths of its 
heart, by which it may become enlightened with regard to the 
principles and forces involved in their intercourse with men, and 
in which it may discern the reflected radiance of angelic wisdom. 



THE INWAED VISION". 

To the view of the materialist, the human soul has no power, 
no capacity of acting, and no separate existence, independent of 
the external organs. The principle of thought has been supposed 
by such an individual to reside in the material brain of the human 
being, and to have no dependence on a more interior organization. 
Therefore, in this view of the subject, man has been regarded 
merely as an animal, whose powers are somewhat more sublima- 
ted than those of the lower brutes, but whose mind is only the 
superior unfolding of the material organization, which, in its 
exceedingly refined state, has the qualities in appearance which 
have been ascribed to spirit. But the reasoning which is employ- 
ed to sustain this proposition is of a very circular nature, inas- 
much as the premises are assumed on which to base the conclu- 
sion, and the conclusion is assumed in order to sustain the premi- 
ses. The true exposition of the subject of man's spiritual nature, 
will be simple and consistent. It will represent the spirit as an 
interior organization which has been formed within the human 
frame as the result of the refining and concentrating process 
which is going on in all external Nature, and as the ultimated 
and perfected creation towards which the various operations 
of the material world are constantly and inevitably tending. This 
view of the human spirit presents a rational basis for the reality 
of the future life and the existence of the conscious being beyond 
the shadows of the tomb. Therefore the spirits wish to assume 
the proposition on which alone a rational faith in future existence 
can be based, that they may reveal, in a clear and consistent man- 
ner, the realities which pertain to the Inward Vision. 

The spirits wish to commence with the proposition that the 
human spirit is a separate and independent organization. They 
wish it to be understood that this organization corresponds pre- 
cisely with the external form — that it represents simply the 
refinement and sublimation of the materials of which the out- 
ward body is composed, these existing in a concentrated and 



THE INWAED VISION. 33 

united form in the most interior portions of the material organism. 
They wish, in the next place, to have the truth clearly perceived, 
that the external senses are merely the instruments of the internal 
being — that they have no independent action of their own, 
distinct from the office of the unseen intelligence that occupies 
the inward citadel, and that they have no power of operating in 
such a manner as to be the instruments of sensation without the 
presence of a connecting link between them and the mind. 
These propositions are exceedingly simple, and may be easily 
comprehended by the most superficial view of the relations which 
exist between the spirit and the senses. On the basis, therefore, 
which is established in these propositions, the spirits desire to 
present the truth which will be seen to immediately follow, that 
the real source of all sensation lies in the spirit — that the several 
organs of sense in the material body are simply the medium 
through which the indwelling soul is accustomed to manifest its 
presence and action. This being the case, the conclusion is appa- 
rent that the senses properly belong to the spirit and not to the 
body ; and the statement is perfectly consistent with the realities 
which spirits perceive, that the eye and ear act only as the appro- 
priate avenues through which the impression of external things 
is conveyed to the internal sensorium of the spirit. The image 
of an outward object is transmitted through the undulations of 
light to the retina of the eye, from which it is conveyed by cor- 
responding undulations of the nervous fluid to the external 
sensorium, within whose inmost depths reside the sensational 
powers of the soul. Therefore the emanation of the object sup- 
posed to be seen, is the real substance which is visible to the 
spirit, and not the object itself; because in the process by which 
the sense of vision is produced, there is no direct relation between 
the external substance and the perceiving soul, it being only the 
projected image of the former which is beheld by the latter. 
From this fact the prominent idea will be readily conceived that 
the spirit, in the ordinary state of the individual, resides within 
its material frame as an inhabitant of the earthly tabernacle, and 
receives its knowledge of what is transpiring in the external world 
only by the messages which are conveyed through the material 
organs and impressed upon the spiritual sensorium. The ordinary 
5 



34: ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

perceptions of an individual are thus resolved into mere impres- 
sions, which are received by the spirit through the external senses. 
These impressions are usually correct representations of the 
existing reality, and hence, under ordinary circumstances, an 
individual will be enabled to perceive clearly through the sensual 
organs the nature, distance, and relations of outward things. 
Since, however, the perceptions of the senses represent simply 
the impressions of the soul, these can only be reliable when the 
medium through which they are received is perfect and undis- 
turbed ; or when the impressions produced by the action of the 
senses, are not overcome by impressions still more powerful 
which are transmitted through another medium, — for experiment 
has demonstrated the fact that the sensations resulting from 
outward substances may be greatly changed in their character, 
by the direct action of one mind upon another through which 
its concentrated images become transmitted and impressed. The 
spirit, therefore, being dependent on a medium which is not 
entirely reliable, for the impressions received in the ordinary state 
of individuals, cannot under many circumstances employ the 
senses as correct interpreters of the great realities of Nature. 

The spirits now wish to present the illustration of a different 
kind of vision which is represented by the term Clairvoyance. 
This vision has been supposed by many individuals on the earth 
to be reliable and exalted in a high degree, so much so that it 
has been regarded as the real and truthful clear-seeing of the soul. 
The spirits desire to speak of the principle on which this vision 
is produced, and the real character which it possesses in relation 
to the external sight, that a more perfect and correct understand- 
ing of the subject may be gained by the truth-seeking mind. As 
the external vision is produced by an impression received through 
the medium of the senses, so the ordinary clairvoyance of indi- 
viduals is simply an interior sensation of the spirit, which is 
produced by its connection with the object which it perceives. 
The last spiritual analysis of this vision would reduce it to a sensa- 
tional impression which is produced on precisely the same 
principle as the external sight, only through a different medium. 
In the ordinary sensual vision, it has been observed, the spirit is 
enclosed within its tenement, and gains a knowledge of outward 



THE INWAKD VISION. 35 

objects and occurrences through the avenues of sense. This 
represents the exact position of the spirit in the ordinary clair- 
voyant state ; but instead of employing the senses as the channel 
of communication with the visible world, it makes use of a more 
extended and enlarged medium, by which it can derive impres- 
sions from distant localities which are beyond the reach of the 
ordinary vision. In order that the clairvoyant powers may be 
brought in perfect action, it is usually necessary that the external 
medium of sensation should be withdrawn by the process of 
de-magnetism, and that all the immortal powers of thought and 
reason should be shut up within the interior chambers of the 
body. When this result has been accomplished, the spirit is 
brought into immediate connection with the refined elements of 
'the system, and is caused to assimilate with these in such a 
manner as to make a suitable line of communication with the 
grosser elements that form the emanation of material substances. 
Therefore, through the medium of these refined elements which 
are simply the vital electricity of the body, an association is 
formed between the spirit and the objects of the outward world, 
whose nature is similar to that which is effected through the 
senses, — by which association the former is introduced to the 
latter in such a manner as to receive from them suitable impres- 
sions of their existence and character. It is on this principle that 
the usual phenomena of clairvoyance are produced. The results 
are obtained by simply withdrawing the external medium of 
sensation and substituting one which already exists in the 
organization of the individual, but whose presence is known only 
by the assimilation which takes place between the essences of 
the spirit and the electrical elements of the body. In thus 
renewing the connection which the reflecting spirit had previously 
maintained with outward objects, by employing a more enlarged 
and sublimated medium of communication, the vision which it 
was accustomed to obtain through the avenues of 6ense becomes 
almost immeasurably extended, and is only limited by the 
obstructing emanation of those more refined substances whose 
nature is not embraced in the sphere of the elements which are 
used as the medium of interior impression. The spiritual essences, 
whose unmingled portions constitute the medium of the interior 



36 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

soul, are thus situated in the same position in relation to the 
inward eye, as that which light sustains to the external eye. In 
other words, the vital electricity which has its residence in the 
brain and assimilates with the refined essences of the spiritual 
sensorium, establishes the connecting link between the spirit and 
material world, by which such a relation is formed in the position 
of these two substances as corresponds to that which is manifested 
in the natural state of the human body. Hence, in the case of 
clairvoyance to which reference is here made, the immortal being 
has no exercise of its own inherent senses, but simply receives 
impressions as in the ordinary state from the sphere of external 
things. From this state of the case, the same difficulty is appa- 
rent in this mode of spiritual seeing, as in the more usual exercise 
of the visual organs. The medium through which the clairvoy- 
ance of most somnambulists is produced, is liable to become 
perverted by disturbing influences and deranged by erroneous 
impressions on the spiritual sensorium ; and in this unavoidable 
condition, which not unfrequently occurs, the supposed clear- 
seeing proves to be only an interior sensation which results from 
the disturbed state of the connecting medium by which the spirit 
is united to the objects of the outward sphere. It will be seen, 
therefore, that there is no infallible reliability to be based on the 
clairvoyance which has its being and exercise on the principles 
which have been revealed in this department of the present 
subject. 

But there is another and still more exalted vision, of which the 
spirits desire to speak in this connection. It has been stated that 
the spirit is a separate and refined organization, which exists in- 
dependently of the outward frame. This truth renders it also 
true that this organization is possessed of certain inherent senses 
that correspond with those which are supposed to be manifested 
by the material body. These inward and spiritual senses are, in 
the ordinary state of the human being, undeveloped in such a 
sense as to be enabled to act independently of the external organs. 
They are the natural and essential attributes of the soul which can 
not be mingled with the gross elements of sense, and which have 
their complete unfolding, under ordinary circumstances, only when 
the spirit is so far concentrated and perfected in its form as to be 



THE INWARD VISION 



37 



introduced into its superior and appropriate Sphere. But when 
the spirit, by a favorable situation in the body, and by the action 
of pure and congenial influences, has reached that degree of de- 
velopment where it is already prepared to be born into the celes- 
tial world, it may, in this case, be the selected object of a special 
operation on the part of spiritual beings, by which the senses that 
exist inherently in its constitution, may be opened so as to act by 
virtue of their own indwelling powers without any dependence on 
the material organs. The vision which is here mentioned is, in a 
strict and literal sense, the clear-seeing of the spirit. It is a vis- 
ion which corresponds in its nature to that which is possessed and 
exercised by the freed soul in its Sphere of light. It is a vision 
which has a definite and precise relation to the inmost reality of 
existing things, and which is a reliable interpreter of the beautiful 
and eternal truths which dwell in the sanctuary of the creative 
Power. The spirits desire to say that the vision which is here 
referred to is the gift of Heaven ; that while it is produced by 
principles of the existing creation, it is never unfolded in any 
individual without the will and influence of superior beings, in 
whose sight it may be wisdom to confer this endowment. They 
would remark, also, that this vision is attainable to all persons who 
have become so far advanced in their spiritual progress as to 
make its unfolding possible, necessary, and wise ; but that it is not 
attainable to any individual whose soul has not grown beyond the 
narrow sphere of sense and attained the degree of maturity which 
is essentially required. When humanity shall have approached 
nearer to the ultimate of its progress — when it shall have grown 
in the knowledge and practice of the truth, and shall have become 
strong in the development of the inward powers, then shall the 
true interior vision be made the common and universal blessing 
which angels have long waited to bestow. 



SOLUTION OF MODEKN MYSTEEIES. 

The present age is blessed, as no previous age has been, with the 
manifestations of spiritual presence and power, together with the 
beamings of heavenly and immortal truth. Spirits have descend- 
ed from their native home and have imparted to the world the 
revelations of deep-dwelling realities, which have their being in 
all the expanded fields of the Universe. They have spoken in a 
voice which man can hear and understand, and with a sweetness 
which has attracted and allured the slumbering soul. They have 
breathed upon the chaotic elements of the human world, and have 
produced the congregation of those kindred materials which are 
forming into a sublime order ; and through the deepest heart of 
humanity — in all the recesses of the social and religious world, 
have they extended an influence which will flow as a mighty 
under-current, whose power shall waste away the crumbling foun- 
dations of unholy error, and let in the pure light from the illumi- 
nated heavens. But the introduction of spiritual intercourse and 
the establishment of spiritual manifestations, have been attended 
with apparent mysteries which it has been difficult for the human 
mind to solve. There have been, in all the communications which 
were the primary offerings of the spiritual world, some shadows 
of imperfection, or inconsistency, which caused a temporary fear 
and distrust to creep upon the investigating mind ; and the fact 
which is here stated has proved a source of the greatest perplexi- 
ty to those individuals whose desires and hopes were inordinately 
elevated by the idea of an intercourse with angels. It has been 
supposed that whatever should be received directly from the spir- 
itual world, might be relied upon as an infallible authority; and 
that the messages of love and truth which should proceed from 
individual spirits, might be received into the confiding bosom as 
the pure and perfect expression of the immortal soul. In opposi- 
tion to this idea, certain occurrences have taken place which have 
served to destroy the blind and unreasoning confidence which was 



SOLUTION OF MODERN MYSTERIES. 39 

at first naturally exercised with relation to the offerings of the 
invisible world. Communications were received by different indi- 
viduals, and in various localities, which were found to be inconsist- 
ent with the real truth and apparently unworthy of the exalted 
source from which they purported to emanate. In addition to this, 
there were numerous circumstances of a mysterious character 
which took place in different situations, with regard to whose real 
nature and design it was extremely difficult to determine. Sounds, 
writings, and physical movements were frequently occurring in 
different places, which seemed to have no definite or benevolent 
object, and which were naturally ascribed by superstitious minds 
to the operations of evil spirits. The design of the remarks which 
are here made is simply to prepare the way for a rational solution 
of the apparent mysteries which have perplexed and troubled 
many honest seekers for the truth, in relation to the inconsistent 
and contradictory communications which have emanated from the 
Spirit-world. 

The spirits desire to state in this place that the subject thus 
presented for investigation, is one which is exceedingly important 
in its nature, and which will embrace a prominent use and design 
in the present work. It has been perceived that the time has 
now arrived when an elucidation of the spiritual mysteries refer- 
red to, is made necessary by the rapidly increasing interest which 
is felt and manifested in the progress of truth, and is demanded 
by the reasoning and investigating minds which have now enter- 
ed upon an examination of this subject. Therefore will the spir- 
its present a solution of the problem which has hitherto remain- 
ed in at least partial obscurity, and has never been fully and 
satisfactorily elucidated by earthly teachers. They desire to com- 
mence their revealment on this interesting point, by stating that 
the causes of contradictory communications from the spiritual 
world, are four in number and may be classed as follows : — 

1. The necessity which existed of introducing the manifesta- 
tions of the heavenly world through the medium of those spirits 
who are undeveloped in wisdom, and who reside nearest to the 
plane of sensuous existence. 

2. The essential and unavoidable imperfections which exist in 
the medium employed by the spirits, through which to manifest 
their presence and communicate their messages. 



40 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

3. The presence and influence of sympathizing spirits, who are 
not unfolded in the wisdom of Heaven, but who are prompted by 
the affectional disposition which they possess, to furnish such 
communications as will serve to please and gratify the individuals 
with whom they converse, without a strict examination of the 
real, existing truth. 

4. The discipline which has been found to be necessary for 
the world and for mediums, in order to stimulate investigation, 
develop reason, and prepare for the unfolding of higher and more 
sublime realities. 

In these four propositions may be discovered the real and only 
causes of inconsistent and contradictory statements which have 
their origin in the Sphere of spiritual being. That the force and 
propriety of this truth may be more clearly perceived, the spirits 
desire to explain and elucidate each of the propositions which are 
here presented, in their natural and appropriate order. The 
beginning of spiritual intercourse on the earth, was attended by 
many difficulties, obstacles, and barriers, of which the inhabitants 
who were to be thus blessed could have no conception. When 
the decision had been formed by the Heavenly Spheres to open an 
intercourse with the dwellers of this planet, the emanation which 
constantly flowed from its surface was so inherently repelling that 
it was exceedingly difficult, and not unfrequently impossible, for 
the spirits to approach within a suitable distance to form a line of 
communication. Under such circumstances they could only 
watch over, gaze upon, and impress the world, as far as this could 
be done consistently with the powerful repulsion which was felt 
in every attempt to establish an uninterrupted intercourse ; and 
hence, through the lapse of many ages, they were unable to accom- 
plish the important object which had been conceived, and were 
content to exercise a general superintendence over the advance- 
ment of the race, furnishing from time to time such manifestations 
of their presence as were rendered possible by existing conditions. 
At last, however, a point in human progress was attained which 
lessened the strong repulsion that had previously prevented a 
more perfect intercourse with earth ; and the spirits rejoiced that 
they were enabled to approach nearer to the dark bosom of 
Humanity, in which they desired to breathe the animating life 



SOLUTION OF MODERN MYSTERIES. 41 

that tills the angel-home. Through the connection which was 
now formed with the inhabitants of this planet, the spirits com- 
menced the process by which spiritual manifestations are produced 
in the present age, and established the intercourse which they 
now hold, with a power which no opposing force can weaken. 
In the introduction and completion of this process, it became 
necessary that the advanced spirits with whom the design of this 
communication had primarily originated, should make use of 
spirits who reside in lower circles of wisdom, and who occupy a 
plane of development which is nearest to the earth, to form a 
connecting medium between them and the individuals on the 
earth whom they desired to address. This was a necessity which 
could not be obviated. The spirits to whom allusion is here made, 
being comparatively little elevated above the sphere of material 
existence, could most readily establish that connection with exter- 
nal substances which is necessary to the production of spiritual 
manifestations, and therefore constituted the appropriate agents 
through whom a more perfect and reliable mode of intercourse 
might be ultimately established. For this reason the advanced 
spirits of the Second Sphere obeyed the decree of wisdom in 
employing spirits who were less advanced to open the intercourse 
which they desired to establish with the world, and to prepare the 
way, by powerful sensuous demonstrations, for the introduction of 
the heavenly truths which they were waiting to reveal. This 
work, like every other which is accomplished in a natural and 
consistent manner, was performed on the established principle of 
progression, — which principle was necessary to the directing 
spirits who could not at once come into intimate relations with 
gross substances, and was also equally necessary to the benighted 
world which could not at first have received or comprehended the 
realities which were to be afterwards unfolded. Accordingly 
the power of a lower and more undeveloped circle of spirits 
was employed as the means of attracting the attention and 
exciting the interest of the poople. Demonstrations of an unseen 
energy were displayed before the eyes of multitudes, and the 
conviction went clown to the inmost heart of the beholders that 
the spirits of the departed were the agents of their production. 
This was the primary object to be accomplished. The time had 
6 



42 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

not jet arrived for the revealment and exposition of important 
truths. It was essential that the most simple lessons shonld be 
first imparted, which had reference to the elementary principles 
of spiritual intercourse. Therefore the main design which 
prompted the exercise of the external power of spirits, was 
fulfilled in the demonstration which was thus afforded of the 
immortality of the soul, the possibility of intercourse between the 
worlds of earthly and immortal existence, and the progressive 
happiness and wisdom of the Spiritual Spheres. This object was 
fully and successfully accomplished so far as regards the estab- 
lishment of a germ whose expanding beauty is destined to be 
seen and appreciated by the world. Everywhere a new life has 
been breathed into the mass. The important work of investigation 
is going on. Minds which have long lingered in the realms of 
physical science, are now being irresistibly turned to the examin- 
ation of the spiritual theory ; and while many expositions have 
been given of the mode in which the mysterious manifestations 
are produced, these have never been satisfactory to the public 
mind, and never could extinguish that kindling flame which had 
been excited in the hearts of men by the visible indications of 
spiritual power. 

The spirits have now reached the point which they desire to 
have distinctly understood. It has been stated that, in accord- 
ance with the dictates of wisdom and the unavoidable necessity 
of the case, the advanced and unfolded spirits, in whose thoughts 
the design of communicating with the earth was first formed, 
employed the more undeveloped spirits of a lower circle to open 
and prepare the way for the revealment of heavenly aud divine 
truths. This being the. mode by which the spiritual world was 
introduced to the material, it could not be rationally expected 
that the communications received would be in all cases consistent 
with the views and feelings of the more advanced spirits on earth, 
or that the beauty and glory of the unseen world should be at 
once revealed to the astonished gaze of mortals. Had the real 
character of the proximate source of these communications been 
perceived by the people, it would have been no cause of surprise 
that there should be many apparent inconsistencies mingled with 
truthful and affectionate sentiments. "While the more progressed 



SOLUTION OF MODERN MYSTERIES. 43 

spirits lingered afar off, and the less advanced were permitted to 
express the imperfect and tmwise thoughts which were the 
natural representatives of their interior state, there existed an 
evident necessity for the inconsistent, irrational, and unimportant 
communications which were necessarily attendant on the very 
circumstances under which they were received. If from a filthy 
and polluted spring no pure and crystal streams can emanate, and 
if from a corrupt and diseased tree there can be produced no 
good and healthy fruit, then on the same principle no signal 
manifestations of superior wisdom could be given by spirits who 
were undeveloped and ignorant. Therefore in the mode by which 
the intercourse of men with angels was to be ultimately estab- 
lished — in the necessity which existed for the employment of 
undeveloped spirits in the introduction of the heavenly messengers 
to earth, the world is presented with a primary and prominent 
cause of the contradictory communications which have been a 
source of doubt and perplexity to inquiring minds. 

The spirits wish to notice now the second proposition in which 
was presented another cause of conflicting spiritual communica- 
tions. This proposition, it will be remembered, had relation to 
the imperfection which exists in the medium through which spir- 
its have been forced to furnish their communications to the world. 
In the commencement of spiritual intercourse, the dwellers of the 
Celestial Spheres were under the necessity of making use of such 
individuals as were, either physically or mentally, adapted to form 
a medium of communication with earthly minds. These individ- 
uals were, in a strict and literal sense, imperfect mediums ; they 
were the representatives of an inferior plane of development in 
their spiritual natures, and were simply the passive and inactive 
instruments which were employed for the purpose of conveying 
to the human mind the primary and most simple lessons embrac- 
ed in the wide fields of spiritual science. Being undeveloped in 
relation to the internal powers, they were liable to frequent and 
lamentable disturbances of the nervous system, which often ren- 
dered the efforts of spirits entirely abortive in the process of pro- 
ducing the established signs of thoughts to be conveyed. In this 
manner numerous and frequent errors would necessarily occur in 
the communications received, which were given through an intense 



44 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

desire to satisfy the skeptical mind, or afford gratification to earth- 
ly friends. The spirits were actuated by a desire to furnish cor- 
rect and satisfactory messages ; but the imperfect and disturbed 
condition of the medium rendered this impossible, or at least 
beyond the power of those spirits who were employed as acting 
agents of higher circles. "When the communicating spirit desired 
to return an affirmative answer to the inquiry proposed by the 
questioner, the unballanced and inharmonious state of the medium 
through which this was to be done, would prevent the correct 
expression of the thought to be transmitted, and in the disturb- 
ance of the spiritual emanation which is used as the connecting 
link between spirits and gross substances, would cause the reply 
to be entirely the reverse from that which was really intended. 
The want of equilibrium which may exist in the atmosphere of the 
individual acting as medium, renders the currents of the electric 
element disturbed and broken, and, as a consequence of this, the 
action of the spirit is not followed by the results which are expect- 
ed and desired. 

In order to place this point fully and clearly before the mind 
of the reader, it will be necessary to notice briefly the imperfec- 
tions which are attached to the several classes of mediums, by 
which communications have been distorted from their original 
design. The individuals through whom the spirit-sounds are 
made the index of thought from the departed, are dependent 
for their capacity as mediums on a large portion of nervous fluid 
which is" thrown off as an atmosphere from the physical system 
and exists in an exceedingly refined and etherialized state. 
Therefore this fluid or atmosphere forms the connection which is 
necessary to be established between the directing will of the spirit 
and the forms of surrounding matter ; and it is through the medi- 
um which is thus formed that the communicating spirit is enabled 
to produce the audible vibrations which are recognized as the 
signs of ideas having their origin in the Spirit-world. When 
this medium is disturbed, or thrown out of ballance, as it natural- 
ly is by an inharmonious action of the mind or by physical 
derangement, the course of the electric current discharged by the 
will of the spirit is turned and impeded, and consequently the 
effect which was designed to be produced — that is the audible 



SOLUTION OF MODERN MYSTERIES. 45 

vibration of the atmosphere — is lost in the chaos of intermediate 
elements. By disturbances of this nature the sounds are not only- 
prevented from expressing the true thought and intention of the 
spirit, but are not unfrequently made to cease entirely, the cause 
being unknown and unappreciated by the anxious listeners. The 
principle which is here explained will account for many of the 
errors and misapprehensions which have occurred in circles of 
skeptical and investigating minds, to which the source of the 
vibrations and the philosophy of their production are complete 
mysteries. It was the desire of the spirits to produce sounds — 
to furnish satisfactory tests of their presence and identity, but 
existing conditions being unfavorable, they were involved in the 
necessity of being misunderstood and wrongfully judged, or else 
of suddenly refusing to communicate. In this manner dissatisfac- 
tion is created in those minds which can perceive no sufficient 
cause for results of this nature, and the most inconsistent and con- 
tradictory answers have been returned to candid inquirers. 

There is another class of mediums to be mentioned next in 
order, which is attended by numerous imperfections, and is there- 
fore in a strict and emphatic sense unreliable. The spirits have 
reference here to the mediums whose mode of communicating 
with the unseen dwellers of the Second Sphere, is represented by 
the susceptibility of the external sensorium to the influx or impres- 
sion of thought which flows from the invisible world. In 
this case the impression is the effect which the mental action of 
the spirit produces on the fluids of the brain through the medium 
of the electric chain, which forms the proper conductor of the 
embodied thought. Therefore it will be seen that the process by 
which impression is produced in the normal or ordinary state of 
an individual, is one which is extremely delicate in its nature, 
and which requires for a successful issue the most favorable sur- 
rounding circumstances. If the chain of electric light which is 
formed between the communicating spirit and individual to be 
impressed, is by any cause broken or disturbed, the message 
which is dependent on the perfection of this chain is either warp- 
ed and distorted from its original form, or fails entirely to reach 
the mind towards which it was directed. Or, under other circum- 
stances, if the mind of the medium is not perfectly passive — if 



46 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHS". 

it is disturbed by uncongenial influences proceeding from other 
minds, or is thrown out of ballance by a derangement of the inte- 
rior essences of the system, the whole process of spiritual impres- 
sion is always greatly impeded, and the thought to be conveyed 
is lost in the chaos of the brain, when it does not become inter- 
mingled, as is often the case, with the erratic fancies which are 
created by the existing disturbances of mind and body. With 
this view of the subject, the rational mind will immediate- 
ly perceive that the mode of intercourse of which the spirits 
have just spoken, is attended by many imperfections, and that, as 
a natural and inevitable consequence, the communications receiv- 
ed through this medium will be often unreasonable, 1 inconsistent, 
and earthly. 

But for the purpose of avoiding the errors and misapprehensions 
which were unavoidable in the intercourse that was established in 
the early stages of spiritual development, the spirits introduced 
another prominent method of communicating with the inhabitants 
of earth, which is illustrated in the case of those mediums whose 
physical systems are ope^ate^ apon in such a manner as to pro- 
duce writing independently of their own will. In the production 
of this phenomenon, the line of communication which is the elec- 
trical emanation proceeding from the person of the directing spir- 
it, is formed through the process of breathing and is extended 
through the atmosphere to the brain and arm of the medium ; so 
that by an action of the will on the part of the spirit, the hand is 
moved to write in the same manner and on the same principle as 
this result is produced under ordinary circumstances by the mind 
of the individual controlled. The spirits wish this process to be 
understood and appreciated, because the philosophy of imperfect 
and erroneous communications will be more readily perceived. 
There is an evident necessity for a complete control on the part 
of the spirits and a perfect passiveness on the part of the medium, 
in order that the desired results which the spiritual friend labors 
to accomplish, may be attained in a satisfactory manner. In case 
this control and such passiveness do not exist, the message which 
is written will be the result of conflicting forces, and will be unre- 
liable as an emanation from the spiritual world. It is the desire 
of the communicating spirit to write correctly; but when the 



SOLUTION OF MODERN MYSTERIES. 47 

existing conditions and surrounding influences are of an unfavor- 
able character, this desire cannot always be expressed in such a 
way as to gratify the medium or his friends. The reason of this 
impossibility is embraced in the very process by which commu- 
nications are given in this mode of spiritual intercourse. It will 
be observed that a perfect connection is maintained between the 
mind of the medium and the hand to be moved by the will of 
spirits. If, therefore, the control which spirits have is not per- 
fect, this is liable to be overcome by the acting mind whose con- 
trol is always complete ; and hence it occurs that when the spirit 
has only power to produce a movement of the hand without prop- 
erly guiding the action, the movement is controlled by the pre- 
dominant impression on the brain of the medium. The spirits 
refer in these remarks to those mediums who are only partially 
developed, or, in other words, whose hand is not entirely under 
the control of spirits, and whose mind has not yet attained the 
required passivity. It is freely stated that mediums in this con- 
dition control by impression what the spirits do not control by 
will ; for though the hand is really moved without any action of 
their own mind, the guiding and directing power which controls 
the movement, lies not unfrequently in the impression which has 
been enstamped upon the brain by the influence of external caus- 
es. Under circumstances of this nature, the communications 
which are professedly the effects of spiritual action will be liable 
to contain statements which are adverse to reason and inconsistent 
with the truth; and while the fact is deeply lamented by the 
spirits, they are fully aware" that such errors are necessarily 
attached to the inrperfect development of writing mediums. 

It is now the desire of the spirits to elucidate the third propo- 
sition which was presented in the commencement of this article. 
This, it will be remembered by the reader, had relation to the 
presence and influence of sympathizing spirits, which were noticed 
as still another cause of conflicting and erroneous communications. 
Every individual who has become acquainted with the universal 
principle of progress, will appreciate the truth that spirits, like all 
external forms in the visible world, are constantly undergoing the 
process of unfolding, and that, as a natural consequence of this 
process, some spirits have advanced to a higher plane of develop- 



48 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

ment than others who have been less favorably situated in their 
primary sphere. According to this truth, some spirits are not 
unfolded in the wisdom which makes the delight of higher 
circles ; and the absence of this illuminating principle renders 
them comparatively dark to the view of those spirits who are 
more advanced. Among the lower circles of spirits to which 
allusion is here made, there exists a certain class whose nature 
presents a large development of the affectional impulses, but a 
very small unfolding of the wisdom-principle. In this class are 
embraced those spirits who love deeply and tenderly, but have 
no directing power within by which their affection may be 
governed for wise and useful ends. These are properly termed 
sympathizing spirits, inasmuch as they are usually impelled to 
action more by the sympathy which they feel for others than by 
the dictates of sublimated wisdom. Spirits of this nature 
frequently attend the mediums who are employed as the agents 
by which the world may become enlightened, and are much 
inclined to manifest the affection which they feel for the individ- 
uals with whom they communicate, by giving messages that are 
expressive only of .this predominant sentiment, and contain no 
useful or important truths. It is not the mission of these spirits 
to present to the world what is not reposited in their own minds ; 
and therefore they have no power or prerogative to speak of the 
sublime and heavenly treasures which Wisdom has gathered in 
the bosom of the higher angels. The office of sympathizing 
spirits is to bear the offering of affection to earthly kindred — 
to speak of the happiness which they experience in their spiritual 
home, and to furnish such messages as are agreeable to the views, 
feelings, and desires of those with whom they converse. Such 
have no higher mission than to re-echo, from their own fond and 
affectionate hearts, the thoughts which are reposited in the depths 
of kindred souls ; they are moved by the unwise impulses of love 
to natter the vanity and inflame the fancies of their friends, while 
they impart no real and substantial knowledge which might be 
received as food for the spirit. Therefore while the desire by 
which they are actuated is good, and while the motive by which 
they are governed is in itself pure, the ultimate of commuications 
which emanate from this class of spirits is dissatisfaction. The 



SOLUTION OF 1IODEEN MYSTERIES. 49 

knowledge, the wisdom, and the truth for which the soul sighs 
and labors, are not obtained by repairing to this source; but 
erroneous, inconsistent, and conflicting statements which have 
reference to no important end, have been frequently substituted 
in the results of anxious inquiry for the angelic wisdom which 
was naturally anticipated. Thus it is clearly seen by the spirits 
of the Sixth Circle, that a prominent cause of the mysterious 
occurrences connected with spiritual intercourse, may be traced 
to the presence and influence of sympathizing friends, who, 
though unseen, are permitted to utter their voice to kindred on 
the earth. 

The spirits will now elucidate the fourth proposition which 
was introduced as a basis for remark in this place. This propo- 
sition had reference to the discipline which spirits have designed 
for the world and for mediums in their employ, as manifested in 
the occurrence of many seeming inconsistencies which have been 
attached to the communications received from spirits. It was 
discovered to be necessary that the world should be disciplined 
in such a manner as to prepare it for the elucidation of those 
truths which are adapted to the higher stage of progress to which 
it is rapidly advancing. At the time when the intercourse between 
the earthly and heavenly world was introduced and established, 
humanity was in a state of spiritual lethargy; the powers which 
dwell in the hidden depths of the soul were not developed — reason, 
intuition, and the spiritual senses were slumbering in the burial 
in which they had been sunk and darkened in their infant being, 
and the mass was groping blindly on the low plane of material- 
ism, with no truthful conception of a higher life. In this 
imperfect and degraded state, the world was not prepared for the 
revealment of heavenly truth ; it was not unfolded in a sufficient 
degree to comprehend the realities of the Spiritual Spheres ; and 
hence it was necessary that the manifestations and communications 
of the invisible world should be of such a nature as would be 
most perfectly adapted to this undeveloped condition of the mass, 
and the most thoroughly successful in the elevation of the human 
mind to a loftier plane of thought. 

Accordingly the primary mode of intercourse was of a material 
and sensuous character; the demonstrations of spiritual power 
7 



50 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

were given in an external manner so as to appeal directly to the 
senses of those individuals who were engaged in the investigation 
of their origin, and the messages which were conveyed through 
the audible vibrations of the atmosphere, were of a simple, unim- 
portant, and inconsistent nature, being designed simply for the 
benefit of those who were only unfolded in the external being, 
and had no proper conception of the true spiritual life. When 
this introductory discipline was seen to be effectual — when the 
"seekers for wonders were gratified with the miracles which they 
sought, and the work of the spirits was clearly discerned by the 
sensuous powers of the people, then the necessity was created for 
a discipline which should serve to stimulate the investigation 
which had been commenced, and develop the internal reason and 
intuitions of the soul. In order to accomplish this result, it was 
essential that the public mind should be placed in perplexity and 
doubt. It was clearly perceived by the spirits who conducted 
the discipline, that if the people were allowed to rely externally on 
whatever might proceed from the spiritual world as an infallible 
authority — if the communications which should be received from 
spirits were to be made the only criterion of thought and action, 
there would be no interior faith, no development of the soul, and 
no animating beauty to pervade the inward sanctuary of man. 
The natural effect of the reliance which would be placed in spir- 
itual direction under these circumstances, would be fatal to the 
real and immortal interests of the world. With an external 
authority on which to lean and an arbitrary power on which to 
rely, there would be no exercise of the reason which is the noblest 
gift of the human being — there would be no expansion of the 
intuitive perceptions which are the attribute of the enlightened 
and concentrated soul, and there would be no uprising of the 
indwelling aspirations towards the elevated, expanded, and beau- 
tiful realm of the adoring angels. It was therefore the primary 
object of the spirits to remove the outward reliance which men 
had placed in their invisible friends — to destroy the blind and 
unreasoning confidence which many individuals were accustomed 
to repose in the directions of spirits, and to present such anomalies 
and inconsistencies to the mind as would cause distrust and per- 
plexity to agitate its depths. For this purpose erroneous and 



SOLUTION OF MODERN MYSTERIES. 51 

inconsistent communications were given instead of the elevated 
and truthful thoughts which had been fondly anticipated ; and the 
most mysterious and singular occurrences were caused to take 
place, which served to increase and deepen the doubts of those 
who had previously investigated with almost unquestioning con- 
fidence. The consequence of this discipline was precisely what 
was desired and anticipated by the spirits who had control of the 
process. Instead of crushing or even weakening the power which 
the inhabitants of the spiritual world had gained over the world 
beneath, the course which was pursued tended to render this still 
more strong and deep ; — investigation was carried on with increas- 
ed earnestness, reason was exercised in the most severe manner, 
and an analysis was made of the mysterious circumstances which 
had taken place in various localities. From this discipline, the 
world has learned that the dwellers of the unseen realms are not 
perfect and infallible — that they constitute no source of external 
authority on which the soul may rely with unquestioning faith, 
but that the truths which may be revealed by the Heavenly 
Spheres must be searched, analyzed, and digested in the interior 
of man — that the revealments which are made by spirits must 
be received and loved for their intrinsic worth, and that the voices 
which are whispering sweetly to the inward ear, must be allowed 
to sink down into the deepest recesses of the human heart, waking 
there the answering music which flows up in streams of divinest mel- 
ody from the hallowed sanctuary of the soul. Thus did the disci- 
pline which was prepared for the good of the world, necessarily 
involve the contradictory and inconsistent communications which 
have been lamented by mortals ; and thus has this discipline been 
successful in the accomplishment of its proposed result. 

But the discipline which spirits had exercised upon the world, 
was also exercised upon the mediums which they had selected to 
perform the work of enlightening and elevating the race. It was 
necessary that the individuals who acted in the capacity of medi- 
ums, should be endowed with certain qualities of mind which are 
useful and important in the mission that has been before indica- 
ted. These qualities were possessed in a lethargic and inactive 
state ; but in order that they might be of actual service in cir- 
cumstances where they would be naturally required, it was seen 



52 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

that they should be previously exercised in such a manner as 
would serve to bring them forth to their own native brightness 
and beauty. Therefore the spirits exercised the patience, perse- 
verance, and self-reliance of their mediums, by imparting false in- 
formation, by placing them in disagreeable and perplexing situa- 
tions, and by refusing to communicate on occasions which seemed 
to require the most satisfactory messages. Thus have mediums 
been placed in the trying school of experience ; thus have they 
been subjected to discipline of the most severe and mysterious 
character, — and the result has been that they have become bet- 
ter prepared to go forth as ministers of truth amid the darkness 
of existing society. 

The work which has been performed by the spirits in this de- 
partment of the present volume, will be appreciated by those minds 
who can comprehend the vastness and importance of the inter- 
course which has been established between earth and Heaven. 
There is a design in this intercourse which is not limited to a few 
passing phenomena, but which extends over a wide expanse of 
human interest. It is a design which has reference to the purifi- 
cation and enlightenment of the whole world — which has in view 
the eradication of human error, sin, and crime — ■ which embraces 
the efforts of the whole Spiritual Spheres for the exaltation of the 
race, to that eminence of truth and freedom where the soul can 
exercise its holiest and most blissful powers. The world, there- 
fore, cannot properly judge of the use and blessing of spiritual in- 
tercourse, by referring to the first imperfect beginnings which 
have been already made, or the apparent wrongs and inconsisten- 
cies which have been thus far manifested. It must be remember- 
ed by the dwellers of the earth that a great whole is made up of 
insignificant parts — that these parts considered in relation to the 
whole are essentially imperfect, and yet are necessary to the har- 
mony of their perfected union ; and with this sentiment in view, 
it should not select one mysterious occurrence, one erroneous com- 
munication, or one seeming inconsistency as a criterion by which 
to determine the value of the great design which has been form- 
ed in the spiritual realms, but it should look beyond the essential 
imperfections and apparent evils which have attended the open- 
ing of the intercourse with spirits, towards the brightness, the per- 



EVIL 8PIEITS. 53 

fection, and the glory which are to be revealed in the coming fu- 
ture. The imperfections which have been lamented by the peo- 
ple as being connected with spiritual communications, will not for- 
ever exist. A period is approaching in the distance which will re- 
veal the true nature of the blessing that is now conferred. From 
the mysteries which have darkened the pathway of the seekiDg 
soul, shall be unfolded the beauty and grandeur of angelic wis- 
dom; from the darkness which has brooded over the aspiring 
mind, shall be born the light of celestial truth, and from the in- 
consistencies which have been the shadowy and unsatisfying at- 
tendants of spiritual communion, shall arise the sweet harmonies 
of Heaven and the glories of the inward Life. 



EYIL SPIEITS. 

The subject which is here indicated is one which has perplex- 
ed and troubled the most profound and philosophical minds. It 
is one which has relation to the perfected glory of the crea- 
tions of the Divine Power, inasmuch as the disrobed spirits are the 
unfolded and ultimated flowers of Nature, whose nature presents 
a complete representation of the character and design of God. 
If the spirits which have been created by the operations of the 
established laws of the Universe are evil, then do they reveal the 
purpose which was the actuating motive of their creation ; but if 
on the contrary they are good, then do they furnish a beautiful il- 
lustration of the wisdom and perfection of the Great Spirit from 
which they primarily emanated, and in which they live and have 
their being. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that the 
human mind should attain to a definite and rational conception 
concerning the nature of the beings which inhabit the invisible 
world, and which constitute the crowning excellency of creation. 

To approach this subject with the feelings which should be en- 
tertained for a momentous theme, and to be actuated by a sincere 
desire for the immortal truth, is the obligation which rests upon 
the reader. To reveal what pertains to the realities of this 
subject, to furnish an explanation of the nature, designs, and 
effects of spirits, will be the obligation of the unseen agents who 



54: ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

are employed in writing this revealment. The question of evil 
spirits is one which has agitated and perplexed the hnman mind 
in almost all ages. It is one which has entered into all the specu- 
lations of the philosopher and all the vagaries of the religionist. 
It is one which has been treated with reverence by the sage in 
his retirement, by the seer in his exaltation, and by the teacher 
in his wisdom. And yet, though the subject has been almost un- 
ceasingly investigated — though the wise and learned have made 
it a subject of special and labored examination, the mystery with 
which it is enshrouded is still unremoved, and the trembling heart 
still fears the revelations of the immortal world to be the emana- 
tion of vile and unholy beings. It is the desire of the spirits to 
elucidate the unsolved problem of ages — to present a rational 
and philosophical revealment of the real character of all spirits 
which are dwellers of the Second Sphere. To commence this re- 
vealment, the spirits desire that the mind of the medium should re- 
main passive and undisturbed, whatever may be the language or the 
sentiments presented by his hand ; and as they perceive that their 
desire will be fully gratified and that the control which they have 
gained over his system is now complete, they would premise with 
the remark that the world may place a reasonable reliance on the 
statement, which will be made on this subject. It will be the aim 
of the writers to furnish such statements as shall be fully consist- 
' ent with reason, and shall be recognized as truth by the intuitions 
of the soul. This is the authority to which they would make 
their appeal, and this is the basis which they would establish as 
the ground of human confidence. 

The first point which is properly noticed in the discussion of 
this subject, is the relation which the spirit sustains to the Deity. 
It will be conceded that the Divine Mind is the primary and eter- 
nal source of all light, all love, and all purity ; that He is the cen- 
tral Power from whose bosom were evolved all existing creations, 
and in whose being there dwells a complete concentration of all 
the most refined and powerful essences in the Universe. This be- 
ing admitted, the spirits wish to present a statement relating to 
the germinal unfoldings of Creation, which will serve to reveal 
the precise relations which the spirit holds to the Deity. In the 
beginning, the Positive Mind breathed out from his inmost heart 



EVIL SPIRITS. 55 

the essences which constituted the internal soul of the chaotic el- 
ements, and through the operations of certain established laws, 
produced a congregation of these elements in such a manner as 
to form suns, planets and systems. When the revolving worlds 
had been thus evolved and thrown out into the depths of space, 
the animating soul by which they had been previously pervaded 
in their chaotic state, still continued to extend through their most 
interior bosom and penetrate every particle of which they were 
composed. The animating soul which is here mentioned repre- 
sents simply the most interior portions of external forms, which 
comprehend the essence of the Divine Spirit. This essence is 
the substance of which spirit is formed and from which it is de- 
rived. It is indeed itself Spirit in its original and elementary 
form. It is the refined and etherialized matter which dwells in 
the recesses of the expanding Universe, and constitutes the living 
presence of the all-pervading Divinity. The fact, then, becomes 
evident from this statement, that the elements of spirit are caus- 
ed to proceed from the Supreme Mind and pervade all the exist- 
ing creations of the universal Whole ; that these elements com- 
pose the materials of which the human spirit is formed, and 
that they constitute the germ of the immortal flower which is un- 
folded in the realms of eternal light. 

The source from which all the surrounding forms of matter were 
derived, is the creative energy of God. It is admitted that this 
source is, in a literal and perfect sense, good and pure. Conse- 
quently, every object which has an existence in the Universe 
must be in its nature good and pure, on the principle that the 
effect must partake of the nature of the cause, and the stream must 
be the corresponding emanation of the fountain from which it 
flows. This proposition will be readily acknowledged as correct, 
and the spirits will now make a practical use of the statements 
and conclusions contained in the previous paragraph. If the 
Creator in the beginning breathed into all the forms and substan- 
ces of Nature the essence of which his own spirit is composed ; 
if, by virtue of this pervading essence, his presence extends 
throughout the illimitable Creation, and if this essence constitutes 
the germ from which the human spirit is evolved, unfolded, and 
concentrated in the physical structure, then it is evident to every 










56 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

rational mind that the whole fabric of the vast Univercoelum is 
hallowed and sanctified by the divine presence — that the entire 
expanse of being is filled with the refined essences of spirit whose 
source is the very breath of Deity, and that these essences, being 
the materials of which the perfected spirit is composed, represent 
the purity, light, and life, which fill the inhabitants of the Second 
Sphere. 

The spirits are fully aware of the importance of this reasoning, 
and they strongly desire that it may be made clear to the percep- 
tions of every mind. Therefore will they briefly present an 
abstract of the prominent principles which have been previously 
elucidated. The first proposition represents the Deity as the 
source of all existing forms ; the second makes Him the 
embodiment of all wisdom, purity, and love ; and the third, which 
is a conclusion from these premises, renders it plain that all things 
are good, inasmuch as they must necessarily partake of the char- 
acter of their author. From this general conclusion, which 
embraces the nature of spirit in a corresponding sense, the spirits 
would descend to the abstract details which are more important 
and equally clear. It is known as an established truth that the 
Positive Mind breathed into all the innumerable creations of the 
Universe, the refined and etherial essences of which his own being 
is composed ; it is known, also, that these essences constitute the 
most interior portion of all existing matter, and it is known fur- 
thermore that these essences form the germ of the unfolded spirit 
which is situated in the human frame and is thence born into a 
higher Sphere. Therefore from these statements which will appeal 
to the reason of the reader, it will be rendered evident not only 
that all things are good in a general and diffused sense, but that 
the spirits of the Heavenly Spheres are in their nature pure, inas- 
much as these spirits are the perfected beings who once inhabited 
the human structure — which beings were formed primarily from 
the animating essences that pervade Creation — which essences 
are the breath and presence of the Divinity. The principles 
which are here presented will establish the truth beyond the refu- 
tation of earthly minds, that there are no spirits which are intrin- 
sically evil in their nature, and none which do not present in their 
inward depths the reflection of divine purity. 



ETIL SPIRITS. 57 

But the truths which have been introduced as containing the 
foundation-principles of this subject, will be presented with great- 
er clearness by a revealment of the process through which the 
individualized spirit is perfected from unparticled elements. The 
boundless extent of Creation presents the beautiful combination 
of Matter and Spirit — the former existing as the external and vis- 
ible form, and the latter dwelling in the depths of the former as 
its interior and invisible soul. Both of these substances are deriv- 
ed so far as relates to their present form from the action of the 
Supreme Mind, and are consequently in themselves good ; but 
both, in their primary condition, are necessarily undeveloped in 
their nature, and therefore imperfect. The principle of progres- 
sion which is attached to both of these substances, now commen- 
ces the process of unfolding, — which process represents simply 
the refinement of Matter and the concentration of Spirit. By 
virtue of this principle, the refined essences which dwell in the 
most interior portions of material substances, are caused to under- 
go the invisible changes which result in motion. Through motion 
these essences are brought forth from the grosser elements to an 
extent which is manifested in life and sensation ; and from this 
last plane of being they are introduced into the sanctuary of the 
human frame, where they become sufficiently purified, sublima- 
ted, and concentrated, to form the indwelling and intelligent 
spirit of man. In this manner is the process of unfolding carried 
on in the regions of surrounding matter, and the result of this 
process is the production of the immortal soul, whose being is 
derived from the divine and eternal essences which pervade the 
Universe as the temple of Deity. On the basis of the principle 
here established, it will not be difficult to determine the real and 
intrinsic nature of the human spirit. If the elements from which 
it first originated are pure — if these represent the breath of the 
Presiding Soul who is the embodiment of all light and love ; and 
if, having its origin in these elements, the spirit is the perfection, 
sublimation, and refinement of its original source, then the rational 
mind cannot escape the conclusion that this spirit cannot be intrin- 
sically evil, but presents the image and likeness of the Divine 
Intelligence, from whom it is primarily born through the beauti- 
ful and perfect operations of Nature. 
8 






58 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

When the foregoing conclusion has been impressed npon the 
mind as the legitimate and inevitable resnlt of previous reason- 
ing, the inquiry will naturally arise relating to the real source of 
the existing evils which have overwhelmed and darkened society. 
Individuals are seen who are accustomed to violate the laws of 
Nature and of God, who manifest a sympathy for the lowest and 
most degrading companionship, and who do not hesitate, when 
moved by sense or passion, to commit the most fearful crimes. 
What, it is inquired, is the source of this evil ? — what is the origin 
of all' those polluting passions and sensual desires which lead to 
the commission of destructive deeds ? The spirits see and appre- 
ciate the force of this inquiry, and they will proceed to answer 
according to the dictates of heavenly wisdom. The process 
through which the human spirit is developed, is one which essen- 
tially involves numerous gradations of being in which are repre- 
sented so many different degrees of imperfection. In other words, 
while the spiritual essences of the human system are yet inter- 
mingled with the gross materials of which the body is composed, 
and while, as a natural consequence of this, the earthly and sensu- 
ous nature of man is predominant over the spiritual and immor- 
tal nature, there will be a supremacy of the lower faculties which 
are born in the animal creation, and only a feeble action of those 
higher faeces which belong to the unfolded angel. In propor- 
tion, therefore, as the animal nature controls, the spiritual nature 
does not control, and in proportion as the spiritual does not con- 
trol, will be manifested the imperfection of man as represented in 
the wrongs and evils which have desolated the world. The con- 
clusion at which the spirits have here arrived, is sustained by 
actual observation. It cannot fail to be seen that the whole scale 
of human progress consists in the increasing development and 
predominance of the spiritual nature, and that as this becomes 
more perfectly concentrated and attains a supremacy over the fac- 
ulties of flesh and sense, the more intelligent become the thoughts, 
the more pure the aspirations, and the more godlike the actions 
of men. In this feet is contained an obvious demonstration of 
the truth which has been previously expressed ; and the conclusion 
will now be rendered clear and irresistible that what is denomina- 
ted evil does not exist in, or result from, the inward spirit, but 



EVIL SPIRITS. 



59 



that it is a natural consequence of the absence or imperfect devel- 
opment of spirit, and the corresponding predominance of the ani- 
mal nature. The world, therefore, is attended with evil, not as 
an absolute principle, but as a changing and ever-improving con- 
dition t m and as the human spirit becomes more perfectly and har- 
moniously unfolded — as the energies which reside in the most 
interior of man become perfected and concentrated, the lusts, pas- 
sions, and propensities which belong to the material constitution, 
will be effectually and forever removed. 

Having endeavored to show in previous remarks that there are 
no spirits who are evil in their nature, the present writers will 
proceed to consider the inquiry whether there are any spirits who 
are evil in their designs. The spirits feel the responsibility which 
rests upon them in the discussion of this part of the subject ; and 
they clearly perceive the fact that adverse theories have prevailed 
on the earth with reference to the important point which is here 
involved. But residing as they do upon the plane of wisdom, 
they see what the minds of mortals do not see, and readily com- 
prehend the mode by which the unnatural theories of men may 
be thrown from their tottering basis. Are there any spirits who 
are evil in their designs ? The affirmative of this question 
supposes the inconsistent idea that an evil design can proceed 
from a source which is pure in its nature. It has been shown by 
a reference to the formation of the spirit and the relation in 
which it stands to the First Cause, that the elements of which 
the spirit is composed are in themselves pure. If this conclusion 
is accepted as truth, then it is evident that no spirit whose nature 
is good, can by any possibility entertain or cherish a design that 
is inherently evil. But there is another idea to be presented in 
this connection, which will place the whole subject in clearer 
light. The theme to be elucidated is the designs of spirits ; and 
in order to perceive the real character of these designs, it will be 
necessary the examine the philosophy of their formation. What 
is a design ? The spirits answer that a design is a congregation 
of thoughts under the control and direction of an inherent princi- 
ple of intelligence. It will be seen that there can be no design 
without the action of intelligence, and that it is from intelligence 
that the design proceeds. Therefore the question arises as to the 



60 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

nature of this principle in the human soul from which all its 
thoughts, purposes, and designs proceed. If it can be proved 
that this principle is evil, then will it be shown that the designs 
of spirits are evil ; but in order to show that this principle is evil, 
it will be necessary to assume that it proceeded from an evil 
source ; it will be necessary to assume still further that there exists 
in the universe a being in whom this source must reside — which 
being can be none other than an infinite devil, or a spirit of 
positive evil opposed to the Spirit of positive good. But the 
reasoning and intuitive mind will at once perceive that this con- 
clusion is intrinsically absurd, inasmuch as it is an established 
truism that there cannot exist two infinite positive principles which 
are opposed to each other, and inasmuch as God who is the source 
of purity, is the author of all the creation which was or is. 
Therefore, if there is no being who is infinitely and eternally 
opposed to God, then there is no source of positive evil ; if there 
is no source of positive evil, there can be no principle of this 
nature in the human spirit, and if there is no principle of evil in 
the human spirit, then there can be no evil designs to emanate 
from such a source. The correct and legitimate mode of reason- 
ing on this subject is to determine the nature of the effect from 
the character of its primary cause. According to this method of 
reasoning, it will be seen that Deity is the first cause of ail 
existing forms and the source of every principle which is 
implanted in the human mind ; it will be seen further that the 
intelligence which constitutes the moving principle of the spirit 
is in itself good, inasmuch as it is derived from a pure and perfect 
Being ; it will be seen still further that the designs which are 
formed as the offspring of this intelligence, must correspond with 
the character of their actuating cause, — and thus the conclusion 
is established that there are, and can be, no spirits who are 
capable of entertaining designs which are really and intrinsically 
evil. 

The spirits have designed to speak in this connection of the 
apparent evil which is supposed to exist in the designs of spirits, 
relating to the case of certain individuals who have been seem- 
ingly tormented by the influence of beings who are governed by 
a malicious purpose. It has been a subject of complaint with 



EVIL 8PIEITS. 61 

some mediums that they have been troubled with wicked, deceiv- 
ing, or evil spirits ; and, judging of the temporary effects 
produced, they have unwisely concluded that the designs of such 
spirits could be only to torment and torture the individuals who 
come under their control for the purpose of gratifying an evil and 
malicious desire. In explanation of the facts which are here 
noticed, the spirits desire to remark that, in accordance with 
eternally established truths which neither mortal nor spirit can 
destroy, the designs which are formed in the minds of spirits 
cannot be inherently evil; that these designs result from a 
principle of intelligence which is in its nature and origin divine, 
and that they cannot have reference to an ultimate evil as the end 
towards which they are directed. The real designs of spirits are 
usually clothed with a robe of mystery which even the most clear- 
seeing mortal may be unable to penetrate ; and these designs are 
not to be known from the apparent and temporary effects which 
may be produced upon the mind or body of any individual. 
There is no proof of an evil design in the production of pain and 
suffering, because these may result also from the perfect and 
beneficent laws of the Creator ; neither is there any demonstra- 
tion of such a design in the dissatisfaction, disappointment and 
deception which are sometimes the attendants of spiritual com- 
munication, because these results are attributable to several other 
causes which are more consistent with the nature of the immortal 
being. Therefore will the spirits here introduce an unqualified 
statement of the fact that there are no spirits which are capable 
of cherishing a desire or purpose which is inherently malicious ; 
and this statement is made with the profound conviction that it 
is founded on an existing and eternal reality, and is substantiated 
by the unchanging principles of Nature. 

The spirits have now arrived at a still more external point in 
the discussion of this subject, and will proceed to answer the 
inquiry that relates to the outward effects which spirits have 
sometimes produced on the person and property of different indi- 
viduals. It has been supposed by many minds which reside 
upon the plane of sense, that the particular effects to which allu- 
sion is made may be properly received as a demonstration of 
the evil nature of the agents by whom they are produced ; and 



t>2 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

thus it is on the ground of this external appearance more than on 
any internal principle, that the doctrine of evil spirits has been 
sustained. From a rational contemplation of the real nature and 
design of spirits, it will be conceded that the results which pro- 
ceed from this nature and design, must be in accordance with 
the perfect plan of Divine government, in which there can exist 
no inharmony that will not result in peace and no confusion from 
which order will not be born. To the merely superficial view, it 
might appear that the inharmonious and confused results which 
have proceeded from spiritual action, contain no visible elements 
of good, and consequently are the production of evil beings. But 
this superficial view is not the method by which the real truth 
can be obtained ; and when the rational inquirer descends more 
profoundly into the nature, causes, and principles of the effects 
which are denominated evil, he will perceive that these effects are 
not ultimate results but primary means, and that their character 
will therefore depend not upon the external appearance, but upon 
the original design from which they proceeded and the final end 
to which they are directed. Let it be deeply impressed that all 
effects which exist as intermediate means have properly no char- 
acter of their own, but that this character is determined by the 
actuating motive through which they were caused to exist, and by 
the ultimate result for the attainment of which they were produc- 
ed. By this standard it is proper that all external effects should 
be judged. If the reader will look forth upon the expanse of the 
human world, he will perceive that in all the avenues of society 
there are effects produced in the tears, and sighs, and groans of 
Humanity, which apparently possess an evil character ; but if he 
will look farther and deeper into the philosophy of these effects, 
he will see that they are but the means employed in the Divine 
economy, which have proceeded from a great and wise design, 
and are tending towards a glorious and benevolent result ; — and 
thus will it be understood that these effects are not inherently 
evil, but that they represent simply the method by which an exalt- 
ed end may be attained from a good motive. This illustration is 
employed to elucidate the real nature of those effects which have 
been sometimes manifested by spirits. The actuating principle 
from which such effects are caused to emanate, is in all cases 



EVIL SPIRITS. 63 

good ; the result to be accomplished by these as a means is con- 
ceived in benevolence, — and hence, if this result is attained by 
the superintending power of wisdom, the whole work, including 
all that is apparently evil, is good and perfect in its nature. There 
are certain instances in which spirits have caused a destruction of 
property and have inflicted pain on the persons of mediums, but 
such phenomena do not of themselves reveal either the motive or 
end which were the cause of their production, and therefore can- 
not be authoritatively termed evil, until this motive and end have 
been definitely ascertained. So there have been instances in 
which individuals have been deceived by spirits. But what is 
deception ? It is simply a variation from the line of truth. If 
this variation is caused by an unworthy motive and serves to 
attain an improper end, as is usually the case with mortals, then it 
may be termed a wrong condition ; but if the same variation from 
truth, proceeds from a wise design and is employed as the means 
of attaining a benevolent result, then the deception is no evil, but 
is essentially good. Hence the spirits will close this part of the 
subject by emphatically stating that there are no inhabitants of 
the Second Sphere who are evil in relation to the effects which 
they may cause to be produced on the inhabitants of the earth. 

From an examination of the principles comprehended in the 
present subject, it has been discovered that there are no spirits in 
the invisible world which are innately and intrinsically evil in 
their nature, designs, or effects. Hence the human mind should 
not be repelled from the subject of spiritual communion by the 
dark and unwise conception of evil spirits. The intelligent and 
reasoning mind will always realize the truth that spirits are the 
work of God, and consequently good ; that they are the perfected 
flowers of the divine creations, whose fragrance is the light and 
love of the celestial world. But while the reason is not obscured 
and blinded by a too groveling conception of the immortal being, 
it should not be turned from its natural and truthful perceptions 
by the opposite error that spirits who are free from the entangle- 
ments of the flesh are essentially perfect in wisdom, and are capa- 
ble of affording instruction which is infallible in its nature. It is 
important that the mind should preserve a proper medium or bal- 
lance between those two extremes ; and, in order that this may be 



64 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

done, it should have an enlarged and expanded conception of the 
character of the immortal life and the real condition of the spirit- 
ual being. Therefore will the writers of this book introduce a 
statement on this subject which will serve to unravel the mystery 
that has long enshrouded the doctrine of devils and evil spirits, 
and will prepare the mind for the reception of a more truthful 
idea in relation to the dwellers of the heavenly world. 

In taking an expanded view of the scale of existence which 
reaches even beyond the limits of human thought, it will appear 
evident that the great purpose of Deity in the creation of man, 
was not only the formation and development of the spiritual being, 
but also the eternal progression and unfolding of that being 
towards the great Central Source of light, love and wisdom. 
Occupying as He does the interior center of the Universe from 
which the brightness of his glory flows out to the circumference, 
He constitutes the living and all-powerful Magnet whose influence 
extends from the fartherest height to the deepest depth of Creation, 
irresistibly attracting every thing of kindred nature towards the 
mighty vortex of overpowering light. Accordingly every form 
which contains the germ of spirit is being unfolded ; also that 
which has already become spirit is advancing to higher degrees 
of refinement, and even the celestial form whose radiant purity 
may not enter into the conceptions of the human mind, is con- 
stantly becoming yet more pure and beautiful, approaching ever 
nearer and nearer to the glorious perfection of the presiding Soul. 
Now as in the lower departments of Nature, so in the superior 
world of spiritual existence, this constant advancement of all 
created beings in the direction of the great Positive Mind, 
naturally develops spheres, circles, and societies, which represent 
so many different planes of development and progress. Spirits 
being governed by the same general laws of progress whose action 
is manifested in all Nature, must therefore exist in as many 
different degrees of perfection, as the grosser forms of the material 
world. In the plan formed by divine wisdom to develop and 
perfect spirit, this result could not be otherwise. It would be as 
impossible for the residents of the Spirit-world to dwell on the 
same plane of being, as for all trees which were planted at differ- 
ent seasons and in different soil, to attain at once the same 



EVIL SPIRITS. 65 

measure of growth. The very idea of progression, connected with 
the various circumstances and influences surrounding humanity, 
is sufficient to show that, while the numerous inhabitants of earth 
do not enter the spiritual world at one time or in one state of 
being, they cannot all be crowded into the same sphere, or mani- 
fest the same degree of purity and enlightenment. It follows, 
then, in accordance with the universal principle of adaptation, that 
the invisible world is characterized by a connected series of 
gradations reaching from the comparatively low to the immeas- 
urably exalted, and maintaining a precise correspondence with the 
interior condition of the disembodied soul. It is by no means to 
be presumed, however, that the different spheres of spiritual being 
are in any way identical with those which are represented in the 
popular theology by the terms Heaven and Hell ; for it should be 
remembered that these spheres are attained, not as by receiving an 
extraneous reward, but as the natural result of progressive growth, 
and hence that there can be no such infinite distance as is here 
denoted between one sphere and another, and no impassable gulf 
to form a dividing line over which the thirsting spirit may never 
reach. There is to the true philosopher an unbroken chain of 
being, extending throughout the entire Universe, the links of 
which are intimately and inseparably 'united ; and as in the 
physical world may be witnessed the innumerable grades of being 
that rise in their sublime order, so in the wide realms of the 
spiritual creation, are beheld circle after circle, society after 
society, and sphere after sphere, rising ever towards the eternal 
Magnet. 

It will be readily and naturally perceived by these remarks that 
the immortal world is a world of progress ; that the spirits by 
which it is inhabited, exist in different degrees of perfection and 
refinement, and that while there are none of these who are intrin- 
sically evil, there are many who are undeveloped and ignorant. 
This is the precise point which the communicating spirits desired 
to render clear ; and that this may be brought still more closely 
to the perceptions of the investigating mind, they will continue 
their observations on the subject of undeveloped or unprogressed 
spirits, which have been improperly termed evil. "While, then, 
the sublime heights of the celestial world are occupied by the 
9 



66 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

unfolded and illuminated angels, it is equally true that there exists, 
in the lower strata of the spiritual atmosphere, an inferior order 
of spirits, which is a natural representative of the early stages of 
eternal progress. By some philosophers it has been supposed that 
the existence of undeveloped spirits would essentially mar the 
beauty and harmony of the Universe, and to the superficial observ- 
er this supposition would appear to be correct ; but when the mind 
reflects more profoundly upon the perfect system of Nature — 
when it sees how beautifully, in accordance with the great design, 
the high is developed from the low, the flower from the seed, and 
angels from the darkened spirits of men, then will it perceive 
that, reaching from the imperfections of earth to the glories of 
Heaven, is one grand and perfect chain, whose links, the lowest 
as well as the highest, are all absolutely essential to the great 
Whole. That which is gross, imperfect, and undeveloped in crea- 
tion forms as important a part as that which is most perfected, 
inasmuch as it occupies its own appropriate sphere, and constitutes 
the basis of all superior developments. While the admiring eye 
may rest upon the full-blown flower, or behold the exalted beauty 
of the human form, it should not be forgotten that minerals and 
reptiles are also necessary to make up the system of Nature, and 
that indeed without thes*e, the forms which are more fondly cher- 
ished could have no existence. Looking, therefore, at the spirit- 
ual Universe, not merely in relation to its parts, but in the light of 
one beautiful Whole, as one grand and perfect system of progres- 
sive development, the human reason will not only find nothing 
unnatural or unphilosophical in the conception of unprogressed 
spirits, but it will perceive that the existence of this class is abso- 
lutely necessary in order to form a rudimental sphere of spiritual 
being, from which the perfection and harmony of higher Spheres 
may be progressively unfolded. In addition to this, it is highly 
irrational to presume that the depraved and ignorant in the mate- 
rial world — those whose interior state is one of darkness and 
deformity, will be thoroughly changed in a moment, as in the 
twinkling of an eye, by merely passing out of the external tem- 
ple. There is no law in Nature — there is no principle in Science, 
by which any radical or material change in the nature of the indi- 
vidual could be thus instantaneously produced. It is known that 



EVIL SPIRITS. 67 

man is not all depraved — not utterly destitute of good, and it is 
known that, dwelling in the depths of every human sprit, there is 
an internal germ of purity which forms a bright reflection of the 
divine essence ; but what is the conclusion to be derived from this 
admission? Is the little seed which is planted in the earth 
unfolded in a moment into the ripened grain ? Is the small acom 
imbedded in the soil to rise at once into the lofty oak? Nay. 
Then in accordance with the same general principle, the interior 
germ of purity implanted in the soul, though it is sweet and con- 
soling to view it there, must nevertheless require a certain time 
for its development ; and therefore no spirit can ascend immedi- 
ately irom the lowest earthly plane of being, to the more exalted 
Spheres of spiritual existence. In admitting this idea which is 
known by spirits to be an established truth, the world is furnished 
with a rational explanation of many seeming mysteries. Spirits 
whose higher faculties have been left undeveloped — whose aspi- 
rations have been confined to the earthly state, and whose affinity, 
whose attraction, and whose treasures were reposited in the world 
of sense, have not unfrequently lingered around their former 
dwelling-place as the invisible inhabitants of earth; and these 
have not only cherished the disposition, but have possessed the 
power, in favorable localities, to manifest their presence by start- 
ling sounds, the moving of furniture, or by so attracting the ele- 
ments of the atmosphere as to compose a visible form. On the 
same principle, it is frequently the case, that individuals who have 
been cut off suddenly by accident, are able to return to their 
friends, announce their presence, and relate the manner and cir- 
cumstances of their death. It is seen to be far easier for spirits 
who have been disrobed of the body but a comparatively short 
time — whose thoughts and affections are most powerfully concen- 
trated on the earth, and whose interior faculties were undeveloped 
in the primary sphere, to come in intimate connection with mate- 
rial substances so as to produce external manifestations of their 
presence. Hence it is true that those spirits who are employed as 
agents to produce sounds and physical movements, are usually of 
an order inferior to those who communicate chiefly by interior 
influx and the process of writing. 

On the supposition which admits the different classes of spirits in 



68 ELEMENTS OF SPIEITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

which are contained extremely inferior grades of development, it 
is easy to perceive a prominent cause for the contrariety existing 
in spiritual communications. It could not be reasonably antici- 
pated that, from the undeveloped beings who occupy the lower 
circles of wisdom, there should emanate intelligence of a uniform 
and consistent nature ; and the chief difficulty which has been ex- 
perienced by mortals on this subject, is removed by the reflection 
that many of the errors, discrepancies, and impurities, which 
have been received from the spiritual realms, have proceeded 
from those spirits who are uneducated and undeveloped in the 
truths of the celestial world. It is a truth which should be clear- 
ly understood that there are many spirits released from the body, 
which have yet to learn the first rudimental principles of Nature, 
— that there are many, also, which retain for a considerable length 
of time the various prejudices and pre-possessions that they had 
cherished while in the form, and which are no more adapted to 
act as teachers of the world, than the helpless and untaught in- 
fant ; — and this is only saying that the dwellers of the lower cir- 
cles in the spiritual world, are as undeveloped in their interior 
state as many individuals who yet remain in the flesh. The pres- 
ence of these unprogressed spirits frequently forms an obstacle 
and hindrance to those more advanced who desire to communi- 
cate with their earthly friends. While spirits of the former class 
are attracted to a circle from the absence of a proper interior de- 
velopment on the part of its members, those spirits whose home 
is in the loftier circles of angelic wisdom, are not permitted to ap- 
proach by reason of the repelling atmosphere which is naturally 
generated. Hence it is that circles are enjoined to be harmoni- 
ous — to elevate the thoughts — to earnestly pray for the presence 
and influence of progressed spirits, and to unite their voices in 
singing cheerful and elevating songs, — this state of mind being 
suited to repel that order of spirits whose element is discord, and 
attract those bright, celestial beings, whose life is one song of har- 
mony. In these results the reader should not fail to discover the 
important law of affinity — a law which is eternal in its nature 
and universal in its application. As atom is joined to atom in 
the physical universe, so soul is united to soul in the spiritual ; 
and so intrinsically powerful is the affinity observed in spiritual 



EVIL SPIRITS. 69 

intercourse, that no extraneous force, not even the strongest will, 
is sufficient to prevent the approach of any spirit who is internal- 
ly drawn by the ties of attraction. Let it be remembered, then, 
that, as a general rule, the nature and quality of the spirits by 
which mortals are visited, will be determined by the interior con- 
dition of their own minds. If they are surrounded by those dis- 
embodied beings who are low, deformed, and destructive in their 
character, these have come because they were attracted, and the 
attraction has been created by the condition of the inward man ; 
for if the mind is interiorly harmonious — if it is elevated in its 
aspirations, and is seeking after truth for the truth's sake, then all 
dark and undeveloped beings cannot remain, and they will retire 
that the soul may be blessed with the soothing and tranquilizing 
influence of the radiant angels. There is, therefore, as a general 
principle, but little danger of being deceived or annoyed by un- 
progressed spirits, in case the internal being is in a proper condi- 
tion to attract those of a higher nature. But the spirits of the 
Sixth Circle will say to those who are thus annoyed, that they 
have an occasion for the exercise of kindness. Let spirits of an 
undeveloped nature be treated with due consideration. Though 
deformed and degraded, they are not insensible to the power of 
love ; and this will prove a far more effectual means of causing 
their departure, than all harsh epithets or storms of passion. In 
every human soul there is a chord, which, when touched with the 
breath of love, responds with heavenly utterance ; and there is no 
spirit so utterly depraved or so void of all divine emotions, as to 
be entirely unaffected by this penetrating power. Those spirits, 
therefore, whom mortals may not reverence, should be treated 
with mildness — a disposition should be felt and manifested to do 
them good ; — and instead of bidding them rudely and authorita- 
tively to depart, they should be induced to do so by the most kind- 
ly persuasion. Had the importance of this mode of treatment 
been earlier appreciated, the world would have heard less of the 
destructive violence of Bpirits, and the dark mysteries of their se- 
cret work would have been changed to the most beautiful revela- 
tion. Thus as the soul becomes imbued with heavenly emotions 
and is enlightened with the great truths of Nature — as humani- 
ty advances onward by the works of development towards the 



70 ELEMENTS OP SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

Heaven of Harmony, it shall be freed from the repelling influen- 
ces of all undeveloped spirits, and shall be elevated, guided and 
strengthened by those sublimated angels who lead on the shining 
host towards the everlasting Throne. 



DESTINY OF MAK 

The spirits of the Heavenly Spheres desire to speak to the world 
on the subject which has relation to the condition and destiny of 
man in the lower or material sphere, and in the higher or spiritu- 
al realms of immortal being. It has been discovered by clair- 
voyant seers that the progressive scale of being is classed into 
seven general Spheres, the first of which is the dwelling place 
of the earth's inhabitants, and the last the sphere, or vortex 
of the Divine Mind. To suppose that the boundary described 
by the external sense constitutes the essential limit of creation, 
would be only to present a lamentable evidence of contracted 
thought ; but if, standing on the material as a present basis, 
man exercises his interior perceptions in search of hidden 
realities, and with the aid of fundamental principles already 
discovered, reaches forth towards the glories of the Celestial Uni- 
verse, then shall Faith and Reason supply the want of his dim 
sight, and far up beyond the darkness of this lower world shall 
he rise in the soarings of his spirit. It is true that there is a lim- 
it even to human conception ; and Fancy, with her strong pinions 
and lofty flights, may not rise to that infinite height where it shall 
gaze upon the brightness of the Eternal. Neither is it necessary 
that man should be infinite in order to receive an appropriate 
measure of truth, or that he should fully comprehend all the un- 
foldings of the higher Spheres in order to obtain a truthful concep- 
tion of the destiny to which he is tending. It is the broad gene- 
ral principles which are involved in this subject, rather than the 
minutiae of circumstances and conditions, that are necessary to 
be understood ; and since the human mind could not conceive of 
the inexpressible brightness and purity that pervade the lofty 
heights of Heaven, it is better that it should gain a comprehen- 
sion of these principles from a contemplation of the inferior stages 
of development, than that it should become blinded by the daz- 



DESTINY OF MAX. 71 

zling glory that surrounds the Infinite. To subserve, therefore, 
the purposes which are held in view in this investigation, the spir- 
its will confine their attention chiefly to the two grand depart- 
ments of the spiritual temple, which represent the progressive 
unfolding of man in his earthly sphere, and the harmony and 
blissfulness of his spirit in the world of light. 

The first or natural sphere of human existence is that to which 
the thoughts of the reader will be first directed. This, it will be 
understood, is the rudimental or germinal state, in which the ele- 
ments of spirit are first concentrated and individualized, and on 
which, as an essential basis, the successive spheres of being are 
dependent. It is in this sphere that the spirit is born as a distinct 
being ; it is here that its powers are first exercised through the 
medium of material organs, and it is here, while enclosed in the 
outward temple, that it receives its primary lessons in divine 
truth — its first aspirations for interior light. The spirits look 
upon this, therefore, as the lowest preparatory school of Human- 
ity where the first lispings of the unfolding intellect are heard, 
and where the dwarfed and feeble soul enters on its course of 
endless progress. Such being the case, they behold, in gazing on 
the face of humanity, the most evident marks of imperfection ; 
— they see, scattered over the fields of earth the dark forms of 
error, ignorance, and wrong; they see the gross darkness of 
iniquity pervading the very atmosphere of men, amid which the 
soul shines as but a flickering spark ; they see, in short, the moral 
degradation, the deformity of character, and the horrid deeds of 
crime, which have stained the annals of human history ; and as 
they turn from the repulsive scene before them, their senses are 
greeted with the hoarse and discordant voices that echo from torn 
and bleeding hearts. It is on the lowest plane of human develop- 
ment that these characteristics are especially manifested; and 
such a result is dependent on the very condition and circum- 
stances of this rudimental sphere. It is known that there is a 
point in creation when the material merges into the spiritual, and 
where the soul is but just sufficiently individualized to exist ; and 
it is known also that there are some men, or beings who are called 
men, that are scarcely more elevated than the brutes, whose in- 
fant spirits — all dwarfed and shriveled — are weighed down by 



72 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

the burden of fleshly corruption. How, then, could it be other- 
wise, in this lowest society of human beings where both situation 
and influences are of a most unfavorable nature, than that there 
should be all these dark imperfections, all this gross iniquity — all 
this seeming evil ? 

But let the reader understand the true nature of these external 
appearances before ascending to a higher plane of being. The 
doctrine has somewhat extensively prevailed that man is intrin- 
sically depraved — that he is in himself totally corrupt, being 
incapable of cherishing a good thought, and that the wrongs, 
vices, and crimes which mar society are the manifestations of this 
internal depravity, which is termed moral evil. Now it is import- 
ant that mortals should distinctly understand that there is, and can 
be, no principle of positive evil in the Universe. If Deity 
represents the principle of absolute and eternal good — if He is 
the great Positive Mind to which all else is subordinate — if He 
reigns as the irresistible Magnet of all human souls, and if the 
glorious works of his creation present, as is seen, one perfect 
system of beauty, harmony and order, then evil cannot exist as 
an antagonistic principle, but can only be manifested in a nega- 
tive form. While, then, the searching mind realizes the eternal 
supremacy of good, it will naturally regard that which is termed 
evil, not as an interior principle, but merely as an outer manifes- 
tation ; it will perceive that all the faculties with which man is 
endowed are intrinsically good, and that it is only the perversion 
and misdirection of these that produce inharmonious results, — 
indeed, that good is forever the positive principle, and that evil 
is merely the negation of this, as darkness is the temporary 
absence of light. No individual can find an authority in Nature 
for terming that which is undeveloped evil. The half-formed 
rose which yet remains in the closed bud, is imperfect, yet it 
contains within itself all the essential qualities which afterwards 
appear in the unfolded flower. So, also, the mineral, though its 
motion is angular, developing many sharp points which might 
lacerate the unprotected feet of the traveler, is nevertheless in 
itself good since it contains the undeveloped germ of all higher 
creations. Thus man, though imperfect, wayward, and sinful at 
the commencement of his career, is yet not entirely depraved, 



DESTINY OF MAN. ?3 

but possesses within him, as the worst of beings do, those latent 
sparks of purity — those internal desires and aspirations for 
goodness, which give the earnest of a ceaseless progress and an 
exalted destiny. 

Ascending now from this most inferior plane of human develop- 
ment, the mind will arrive at a higher sphere of thought and 
action, in which may be discovered among men a far superior 
degree of goodness and enlightenment. That which was seen 
before only in the bud here appears as the unfolded blossom. 
The faculties of the human soul have here attained a more harmo- 
nious exercise. A world of interior beauty is opened to the eyes 
of men ; and the light of truth and virtue begins to dawn upon 
their darkened minds. They are no longer satisfied to remain in 
the dens of wickedness, or to grovel in the filth of crime, but 
deep and earnest thirstings for a higher state now animate the 
soul, and the warm breath of an expanded love has melted the 
congealed fountain of the heart's emotions. In this progress man 
begins to feel the earnest of his exalted destiny ; he feels that he 
has attained to a higher state, and now breathes a purer air than 
those who yet linger in the depths of corruption; and as he 
catches sweet glimpses of the light that gleams above, he moves 
onward in all the great labors and duties of life, towards the 
brightness of a more blissful Sphere. In illustration of this truth 
may be witnessed the almost universal traces of human improve- 
ment ; — it will be seen that men, having been freed from the mon- 
strous burden of corruption with which they were at first oppressed, 
are now advancing with new strength and more rapid steps in the 
direction of the celestial world. It is encom*aging to the spirits 
to observe that a constantly increasing number are now entering 
into an elevated sphere of thought, standing forth as the pioneers 
of progress — as bold and earnest reformers of the world, and 
leading humanity onward, like bright and attractive lights, in the 
beautiful pathway of progression. These are they who are 
advanced beyond the shadows of superstition, and have expanded 
views of God and of the Universe ;— their love flows forth in a broad 
and ceaseless stream to man ; their aspirations are elevated above 
the fleeting forms of earth, and reach upward to a loftier dwelling 
place — so that, living as it were upon the borders of the Second 
10 



74 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

Sphere, they may enjoy sweet communion with its celestial inhab- 
itants. 

The truth may here be appropriately introduced that angels 
have hovered around humanity as the harbengers of its coming 
destiny. They have brought life and immortality to light ; they 
have inspired the darkened minds of men with visions of heavenly 
beauty, and moved on the rolling stream of human advancement 
even to the shores of Eternity. The decree has gone forth from 
the spiritual world that man shall be redeemed ; and in order 
that this may be more completely accomplished — that the light 
of truth may more successfully dissipate the darkness of the world 
- — that the crushed and saddened hearts of men may be comforted, 
and that humanity may arise from its lethargic slumbers to the 
newness of the inward life, it was especially important that a 
direct and immediate intercourse should be established between 
spirits that are freed from their earthly shackles and those which 
yet linger in the outward temple. It is for the world to rejoice 
that this intercourse is now opened. Glorious is the presence of 
the heavenly hosts ! They have come in robes of light to perform 
their holy ministry, and, with the aid of all holy powers, they will 
accomplish their mission. The car of progress will move onward 
with mighty and overwhelming power ; and Truth though crushed 
and trampled upon in the ages past, will arise to reign over the 
disordered elements of mind. Deeper and deeper flows the tide 
of spiritual life, and wider and broader are its manifestations 
extended. It is known in Heaven that the world though lost 
shall be redeemed ; that its altars of corruption shall be demol- 
ished, that its temples of superstition shall be broken down, and 
that its thick darkness shall be dissipated beneath the refulgent 
and overpowering light. A new era has opened upon the 
earth. A deep and wide-spread revolution is going on society. 
Immortal truth now armed with spiritual power is to achieve its 
triumph. The tyrant upon his gilded throne may tremble, for his 
arm shall be powerless and his scepter turned to dust ; the bigot 
who has forged chains for the soul and sought to stifle the voice 
of Truth, may cower beneath the new-born light, for his works of 
darkness shall be no more; but to those who love the holy 
ministry of Heaven and would seek the beautiful unfolclings of 



DESTINY OF MAN. 75 

angelic wisdom, the mission of the celestial hosts will be a source 
of unspeakable joy. 

The spirits desire to unfold the destiny of Man in a still more 
perfect light, by referring to the exalted Sphere of spiritual exist- 
ence to which he is advancing, and by revealing some of the harmo- 
nies of the more perfect state into which he will ultimately enter. 
Man has felt, whenever the best affections of his nature are exer- 
cised, that his present is at best a rudimental state of being, and 
that a condition immeasurably more exalted is to be attained 
in the fulfillment of his glorious destiny. Hence man naturally 
aspires to a higher life — to a state where the dark forms of earth 
may not cast their shadow, — the veiy conception of this being con- 
nected with something which is entirely superior to all the beau- 
ties of his earthly home. Accordingly it may be stated that the 
Second Sphere presents the real existence — that it contains the 
eternal substance of which the scenes and objects of earth are but 
the fleeting shadows. In the lowest, rudimental sphere of man, 
he is prepared to perceive and appreciate but little of the illimit- 
able Universe. Being enclosed in a comparatively gross and con- 
fined atmosphere, and coming in connection chiefly with substan- 
ces of a material nature, his attention is directed principally to 
the external, his conceptions are usually of the most superficial 
character, and his senses delight in the enjoyment of outward 
beauties, while he enters not into that higher and inner sanctuary 
which contains the divine, but unseen reality. But when, in the 
progressive order of nature, man is elevated to a superior Sphere — 
when the soul is not only released from its frail and burdensome 
frame-work, but enters into the celestial clime whose radiant splen- 
dors break . like morning light upon its vision, then a far more 
beautiful and glorious scene is unfolded — a world which had 
been long invisible and unknown is revealed, and in the ineffable 
brightness and beauty of the heavenly fields, the spirit beholds 
and rejoices in that real and unfading glory of which, in all its 
past existence, it could entertain only a faint and shadowy con- 
ception. 

The aspirations of mortals may reach upward to the Second 
Sphere as a world of all-pervading harmony. No strife and dis- 
cord are permitted to enter this abode of the immortals. No 



76 ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY. 

misunderstandings and animosities can here exist, for all see each 
other as they are, and all are pure. Gentle and loving, therefore, 
is their ministry, while still and peaceful are the thoughts which 
rise from their inward source, like sweet incense, unto God. The 
numerous causes of inquietude which agitate the mind on earth 
are here removed, and through the vast multitude of human 
spirits there flows one clear, bright stream of joy, which, like some 
smooth and tranquil lake, seems to slumber in its own silent 
depths. In this Sphere, the bond of union commenced on earth 
is completed — the plan of one mighty brotherhood is presented 
in its great reality ; — there is no cruel oppression, no stern author- 
ity, no arbitrary law, for all spirits who are thus redeemed and 
glorified, yielding passively to every principle of their being and 
bringing themselves into harmony with the Universe, become a 
law unto themselves. Thus the all-pervading spirit of harmony 
whose presence is so clearly manifested in the physical creation, 
here accomplishes its more perfect work, uniting with strong and 
ever-enduring links all souls to each other and to God. 

The Second Sphere is, in relation to earth, the great fountain 
of light and truth. There is no night — no darkness here. 
Grief, and gloom, and woe, are banished by the all-penetrating 
radiance of Heaven. The moon sheds not its lustrous rays — 
the sun pom's not its gorgeous beams, but far up in the expand- 
ing infinite is the source of universal light, whose breath imparts 
joy. and blessedness to the circling Spheres. Behold! in this 
land of bliss the prophecy of inspired seers shall be fulfilled, 
for here sorrow and sighing shall flee away — the tears shall be 
wiped from off all faces, and death shall be swallowed up in 
victory. It is here that the noblest desires of the immortal 
nature are to be gratified; it is here that man shall find the 
true object of those earnest, breathing aspirations that gush in 
living streams from the Heaven-smitten soul ; and it is for the race 
with one constant struggle — with one mighty and unceasing effort, 
to strive to reach the harmonies of this glorious Sphere — to at- 
tain to those lofty heights of progress, where it shall truly and 
profoundly realize that its path is progression, that its works 
are development, that its Heaven is harmony, and that its God 
is the universal Father. 



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